Late Fees
by Syreene
Summary: Sometimes returning late is better than not at all....for library books as well as Companions. 10/Martha
1. Chapter 1

LATE FEES

Sometimes returning late is better than not at all…

Martha's grin felt permanently plastered on her face after the Doctor took them to visit the friends she had made in 16th century England. She was so relieved when they left England the first time to return to the safety (and plumbing) of the TARDIS…but there was a part of her that was left wondering what would happen to them after the Doctor so unceremoniously changed their lives forever. She laughed to herself as she strolled down the hallway to the control room. _Goodness knows my life has changed forever…I have to wonder what happened to the rest of the people the Doctor has met. Has it made their lives better? Worse? _

As she walked into the main room of the TARDIS the first thing she noticed was that it was much too quiet…because the Doctor wasn't there doing his customary piloting dance around the console. She was in too good a mood to get irritated though, and there didn't seem to be any alarms going off, so she plopped herself down in the Captain's seat and swung her heels as she sang to herself, "Where, oh where, has my Doctor gone…oh where, oh where can he be? With his hair cut short and his coat cut long, oh where, oh where can he be…"

"I have to admit, Martha, that I don't think I've been the subject of children's songs for a good…oh, I guess going on three centuries now." The Doctor walked up to the console and leaned against Martha's seat with his glasses perched on the edge of his nose as he flipped through a book in his hands. He snapped it shut with a small cloud of dust and looked up at her with a self-deprecating smile. "That was very sweet, though…usually I'm compared to the Boogeyman."

"Nah…you?" Martha asked in disbelief. "You always try so hard not to hurt people…I couldn't imagine it."

His smile slipped as he gazed sadly into her eyes, and Martha could tell that their joking had suddenly taken a darker turn. She drew a breath and was about to try and comfort him when he sniffed and scratched the side of his head, breaking their eye contact. "Well…even I can learn from my mistakes…eventually." He set the book beside Martha on her chair and turned to the console to begin programming in their next destination.

She brushed the dust off the cover of the book and took a look at it. "Doctor Who Discovers Historical Mysteries?" She traced the image of the TARDIS on the front of the book as she looked up at him in wonder. "You never told me you were a writer, too!"

"One of my many talents, Doctor Jones," he said with a comical wink at her. "Though mind you…finishing that one cost me no end of trouble; turning Princes into playwrights, playwrights into martyrs, companions into Princes and back again."

"Amazing…" Martha muttered. "Can I read it?"

The Doctor winced as he tugged at his ear. "I've got to return that one, actually…but there's tons of great books where we're going."

"Oh," she replied in disappointment. "Wait a minute…great books? Where are we going, then?" The TARDIS thumped hard in landing and Martha rocked back against the Captain's chair.

"Where are we now, you mean?" He asked with a smile as he walked around the console and grabbed his coat from the railing. "The Great Library Planet of Biblios, repository to all of the Universe's knowledge!" He flung open the doors and Martha gaped at what she saw: rows upon rows of books going on to the horizon.

"Oh…my…God!" Martha whispered as she stepped out of the TARDIS and stared wide eyed at more books than she had ever seen in her life. "And I thought the British Library was big…"

"You haven't seen anything yet," The Doctor said as he locked the TARDIS door and flung an arm around her shoulders. "This is just part of the Reference Section! Shall we go find the Main Desk?"

"Lets!" Martha said with a smile as they walked down the aisle.

"This is all so amazing, Doctor!" Martha exclaimed as she ran her fingers across the book spines and adeptly pulled one out from the shelf to read the title: "Zen and the Art of Teleporter Maintenance."

"Every book in existence can be found on this planet, Martha," the Doctor said as he spread his arms wide, "from Doctor Seuss to Doctor Who."

"And just why did you use that name, anyway? I mean…I can imagine you being called that so many times that you must get tired of it: Doctor? Doctor who, then?" Martha wondered out loud as she replaced the book on the shelf.

"Well…have to fault the publisher on that one," the Doctor explained as he tugged at his ear. "It was supposed to be 'The Doctor, Who Explores Historical Mysteries.' One typo later, however, the comma was gone and it became what you see there."

"I like it," Martha said with a smile as she placed her hand in his to give it a squeeze, "It gives you an air of mystery."

"I'm sure Perpugilliam would've agreed with you…" the Doctor replied.

"Who?"

"Ahh…Perpugilliam Brown…'Peri' for short. She was quite the able companion…first one from America I ever had too," he said wistfully.

"What happened to her?" Martha asked tentively. She knew the past was a touchy subject for the Doctor…but she'd found that if she timed it right, he was more than willing to talk.

"She became Queen of Thoros Alpha for awhile," he said as he removed his hand from hers and stuffed them into his coat pockets as he walked ahead. "Yrcanos was a good husband for a warrior king…but eventually I helped her get home where she lived out her life, I imagine."

"You never checked up on her?" Martha asked sadly.

"It's not like that, Martha," he sighed as he ran his hand through his hair and stopped to turn around. "Things were complicated, and in the end…I think she'd be happier if she never saw me again."

Martha sighed in disappointment. "That's a shame…I was kind of hoping I could meet some of your past companions someday." A worried look crossed his face and she continued quickly, "I realize I'm just the current companion in what must be a loooong list, Doctor. I mean, you've been around for over 900 years, right?" She gestured wildly with her hands and then shrugged. "I don't know…I was just thinking it would be a great way to get to know you…and to have somebody to talk to, I guess."

The Doctor dropped his hand and walked up to Martha to place his hands on her shoulders and squeeze them gently. She looked up shyly and continued, "You're not always the easiest person to live with, you know…and as much as I love the TARDIS, she can't share a pint of ice cream with me while we watch sappy movies."

"I know…and I've counted my blessings that you've stayed with me this long, Martha," he said with a half-smile. "Tell you what…after we finish up here, we'll go visit some of them, eh? At least…the ones who aren't angry with me, anyway…might just end up being Sarah Jane in the end…but…"

"Oh thank you!" Martha exclaimed in joy as she hugged him tight.

After a moment's shock he smiled in return and wrapped her in a bear hug. "You realize you're the only one I've done this intentionally for, right?" he joked as he leaned back to look at her. "I figure if you've got others to talk to you won't always be going after me with the questions!"

"Oh…you!" Martha muttered with a laugh as she thumped him in the shoulder.

He laughed as took a step back and grasped her hand in his. "In all seriousness, Martha…never stop asking. In fact…that's part of the reason why we're here."

"To answer my questions?"

"Yup!" he answered with a smack of his lips. "All modesty aside, somewhere around here is an aisle of books dedicated to the past adventures of yours truly…and I thought you might like a look-see."

"Really?" Martha squeaked out in surprise as her eyes widened at the thought of access to the Doctor's so secretive past. "You...you really don't mind?"

He smiled as he reached up his right hand and cupped her cheek gently. "You've saved my life numerous times, Martha…the least I could do to say thanks is let you learn about it."

"Now hang on a tick," Martha said as they finally came within sight of one of the library's many information desks. "You said that was part of the reason why we're here…what's the other part?"

"Um…would you believe late fees?" The Doctor replied with an embarrassed grin. Martha looked at him incredulously and he continued hurriedly, "It's not my fault! One of my previous regenerations checked my book out, and after all the trouble I had regenerating into this form I was lucky I knew who I was, let alone that I had a library book overdue."

"And just how late is this book?" Martha asked as they walked up to the desk and the Doctor passed the book over a scanner embedded in it's surface.

Suddenly there was a loud beeping noise and a flashing red light that reminded her of police cars raised up out of the desk. "Subject is returning a book that is 35 years overdue…please remain while the Librarian comes to organize terms of payment for late fees…"

"What?" exclaimed the Doctor in a huff. "Oh come on…it's not my fault!" He slapped his hands to his sides and looked around to see if anyone was coming before leaning over to his companion. "This may take a while, Martha. You might want to go on and start reading without me while I settle up."

"You sure?" she asked doubtfully, unsure what kind of fines a library _planet_ might extract from him.

"You remember what happened the last time I let these things go…I for one don't want to end up in an ice prison again."

"Point taken, Doctor. So how do I find the right section?"

"Hand me your screwdriver…" Martha pulled it out of her inside jacket pocket and handed it over. He took the screwdriver and placed it into a socket in the desk and started to quickly type his search into the library's search function. Soon information came spooling across the screen and he pulled the screwdriver out with a flourish. "There we go! Start down that way," he pointed down an aisle to his left, " and follow the beeping from your screwdriver. It'll beep faster as you get closer to the correct section. I'll come find you as soon as I'm done here."

Martha took the screwdriver and put it in her front pocket. "Okay…but if you get into deep trouble…"

"You'll be the first person I call," he said with a smile as he tapped his temple lightly.

There was a whirring noise from behind the information desk and then a robotic figure rose out from the floor. "Welcome, Doctor. It has certainly been a long time since we've seen you last. If you would like to follow me, we'll go to our main desk and see what we can do to clear up this unfortunate circumstance." The robot gestured behind him and he and the Doctor began to walk down the aisle. "I'll be back before you know it, Martha," he called out as he waved. "Just…if you read about my 6th incarnation…be forgiving…I wasn't quite at my best back then."

"All right, then…" Martha said to herself as she watched the Doctor disappear into the distance. She took her screwdriver out of her pocket and turned it on to hear the soft beeping as she walked down the aisle to the left. "Let's see what we can find…"

After twenty minutes of incessant beeping Martha finally was able to look with satisfaction and a bit of amazement at the library's extensive collection of Doctor Who adventures. "Whew! Where to start?" she asked herself as she put her hands on her hips and stared at the shelves. "It's a good thing med school taught me to be a speed reader."

She ran her fingers along the books and skimmed some of the titles: The Android Invasion…The Ark in Space…The Face of Evil…Earthshock…The Last Dodo. _Wait a minute…The Last Dodo?_ She shivered as she remembered the adventure she and the Doctor went on when they visited MOTLO and she saw the dodo for the first time. _Did they actually write a book about that already? How'd they…_her fingers hovered over the book in curiosity and just a little bit of fear._ No…I don't want to know…life is always better than the book, anyway._

She continued skimming the titles until she came to one that especially drew her eye: _The Dalek Invasion of Earth_. A chill went down Martha's spine as she remembered her encounter with the Daleks in New York…and that was just three of them._ Did they invade Earth in force? Did the Doctor stop it, or…_ she shuddered and she pulled down the book to sit at a table and begin to read:

A disheveled man wearing a strange helmet walked jerkily along the ruined landscape until he ripped his helmet off with a shrill scream…

"You do realize that the Doctor who checked that book out has been dead for years, right? By my reckoning you lot should be happy that I managed to bring the book back at all," the Doctor complained as he leaned against the large main desk of the library. The robot who had escorted him had disappeared back into the floor and now he was pleading his case to the head librarian, a blue skinned and multi-armed female who had most of them crossed as she looked at him sternly.

"You've been a patron of our library for over 300 years, Doctor…you should know by now that regeneration is not an escape clause here on Biblios. We have detailed procedures for when a patron dies while their books are checked out."

"Yes, I know…the book was beeping at me like the Road Runner, but not until I found it buried in the Chrysanthemums in my garden…which is what I've been trying to explain: when I regenerate my ship changes…so not only did I completely forget that I had checked out a book, but my ship hid it from me!"

The head librarian sighed as one of her arms reached over to her computer and began typing while two others flipped open the book to stamp it. She looked over to her computer before turning back to the Doctor. "I understand your problem, new bodies can take a lot out of a creature. When I look at your records, however….you have accumulated a total of 250 counts of evading library fines. I'm afraid your past history just can't be overlooked…no matter how many incarnations you've gone through.

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair in consternation. "There has to be something I can do to settle things…"

The librarian scratched her chin with one of her hands while two of them crossed over her chest and one of them caressed the cover of his book. "I think I may have a proposal for you, Doctor…"

Martha gnawed at her lower lip as she shifted in her chair to get more comfortable, and totally lost track of time as she bent over the book and continued reading:

_Ian and Barbara watched the TARDIS scanner in silence. They both had witnessed the burgeoning relationship between David and the Doctor's granddaughter…but none had dared talk of it for fear that it would upset the Doctor and distract him from their struggle against the Daleks. Barbara looked to Ian worriedly as he squeezed her hand gently to comfort her. Suddenly the Doctor sprang to life and flipped a switch on the console that closed and locked the TARDIS doors. Barbara turned to the Doctor and was about to ask him what he thought he was doing…when Ian tugged at her hand. She turned to him and he shook his head briefly. "This needs to happen, darling," he whispered as he pulled her into a hug. Barbara wiped the tears from her eyes as she heard the surprised Susan calling out to the Doctor over the speakers._

"_Grandfather…what are you doing? Let me in!"_

_They watched as the Doctor sighed and hunched his shoulders. For the first time in their travels with him, they could see the toll of long years in his face. He pressed a button on the console and began to speak over the loudspeaker system as he watched her on the scanner._

"_You are a grown woman now, my dear Susan. Long have we taken care of each other…but you can never find your own future if you're constantly tied down to take care of me. You have someone new who wishes to take care of you…and you of him, I imagine. I vow, Susan…one day I shall come back. Until then there must be no tears, no regrets, no anxieties. You must go forward in all your beliefs…and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine." He sighed deeply before he continued. "Goodbye, my darling Susan…my granddaughter." He pulled the dematerialization switch of the TARDIS with heavy hearts and without a word walked out of the console room deep into the heart of the TARDIS._

_Susan looked forlornly at the empty space where the TARDIS had been, her key held limply in her hand. She gazed anxiously at the skies for any sign of the police box…but there was nothing there but clouds. David walked up behind her and gently offered her his hand._

"_He knew you could never leave him willingly, Susan…so he had to make the hard choice for the both of you. He loved you so much that he had to let you go so you could live your life on your own terms."_

_With a sigh of resignation she dropped her hands to her sides, her key falling forgotten to the ground. "You're right. My travels are over…because I'm home now." She turned to him and placed her hand in his as they walked away together._

"Oh God, Doctor…" Martha cried out before she placed her hand over her mouth and looked around to make sure that she wasn't being too loud. She wiped the tears from her face as she re-read the last page. _I never knew you were a grandfather, let alone a father!_ She sat back in her chair and came to a realization. _Is she still alive…or did she die when Gallifrey…oh Doctor…no wonder you've been picking up Companions ever since._ She took a deep breath as she closed the book with reverence and stood up to place it back on the shelf.

"Are they all like this, Doctor?" she wondered forlornly as she looked at the rows of books and ran her hand over the spines as if trying to feel the emotions pouring out of each one. "How many times have you picked us up to fill that empty hole in your hearts…only to have to let us go?" The tears began anew as she leaned her forehead against the books. "Did you feel the same when I said goodbye?"

The Doctor's legs gave out beneath him as his mind was overcome with Martha's unexpected waves of sorrow. He closed his eyes in pain as he leaned against the desk for support. "I-I'm sorry…could you repeat that?" he muttered.

The librarian looked at him in concern. "Perhaps we should take a seat and discuss this further. Are you all right? I can ask one of the androids to get you some refreshment…"

"A chair would be good…" he bit out as he stumbled backwards and reached out blindly to catch at one of the chairs behind him. He pulled out the chair and flopped into the seat as he held his head in his hands. _I should've known she'd go straight to the heart of the matter. Over 900 years of adventures to read about, and she had to pick one of the most painful ones._ He sighed deeply as the librarian took a seat at the table across from him. _No, Martha…I didn't feel the same when you said goodbye…I felt worse_. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers and did his best to focus again on the librarian.

"As I was saying, Doctor…I have a proposition that I think will fulfill all of our obligations satisfactorily. " She flipped open the Doctor's book to look at the publishing company on the inside cover. "As you well know, Doctor…the Megalonic Publishing Company is a major contributor to the collection here at Biblios. I believe you had dealings with them when you were contracted to write your series of 'Doctor Who Discovers…' books."

"Indeed I did. Not exactly by my choice, though. After that whole mess with the Loch Ness Monster swimming up the Thames it was kind of hard not to be noticed by the masses…and thus my privacy paid the price and I became an author." Sudden realization of where the conversation was heading struck the Doctor and he looked at the librarian with wide eyes. "Wait a minute…you're not proposing that…"

"That you fulfill your obligations to Biblios and take care of your outstanding fines by taking another contract with Megalonic to grace our shelves with more books? What an excellent idea, Doctor…I accept!" the librarian said with a pleased smile as two of her hands slapped the table and one of her right hands reached out to shake with the Doctor.

"There's no telling what any of these will be like…I guess I'll just have to pick one," Martha said to herself as she scanned the books. She closed her eyes and ran her fingers over them as she whispered, "And my mother told me to pick the very best…one!" She opened her eyes to pull out the book that her hand was touching: _The Invasion of Time_. "Oh great…another invasion!" she muttered as she sat down to begin reading:

_Two ships floated close to each other in the darkness of space. In one stands the Doctor, his curly haired head attentive to three occupied thrones in the shadows. _

"_The time has come, Doctor…you have been fully prepared for our plans. Now you must sign the document that gives you full power over all of the Time Lords…"_


	2. Chapter 2

"There's no telling what any of these will be like…I guess I'll just have to pick one," Martha said to herself as she scanned the books. She closed her eyes and ran her fingers over them as she whispered, "And my mother told me to pick the very best…one!" She opened her eyes to pull out the book that her hand was touching: _The Invasion of Time_. "Oh great…another invasion!" she muttered as she sat down to begin reading:

_Two ships floated close to each other in the darkness of space. In one stands the Doctor, his curly haired head attentive to three occupied thrones in the shadows. _

"_The time has come, Doctor…you have been fully prepared for our plans. Now you must sign the document that gives you full power over all of the Time Lords…"_

"Full power over the Time Lords?" scoffed Martha. "He hates it when I ask him to choose the restaurant we're to eat at…let alone ruling a whole race of people. It's got to be a ploy…right?" She chewed at her lip as she hunched over the book and continued reading.

"Leela of the Jungle, eh?" she laughed as she thought of her Doctor going blue in the face trying to explain temporal physics to the tribal warrior woman. "Sheer physical instinct partnered with a cerebral alien that's out of touch with his emotions…what a combination! I wonder how many times he had to stop her from solving the problem with a knife?" She sat back in her chair and thought as she chewed at her fingernail. "Then again…I wonder how many times he didn't stop her?" She leaned over the book and sighed as she scanned the pages. "Considering how much of an ass he's being to her, I'm surprised she never used a knife on him…"

"_Borusa, are you in there?" Kelner bellowed as he pounded on his office door. "I must speak to the President!"_

"_Hush, man! The President is still resting!" the older Gallifreyan replied sternly as he opened the door. "If you can lower your volume to a more hospitable level, I will take you to his office."_

_They both walked hurriedly down the hall and when they got to the Doctor's office Kelner barged past Borusa to throw open the door, only to stop short in amazement as he saw the Doctor sleeping on his couch, his floppy leather hat covering his face. _

"_B-but…you were…how did you get here so fast?" _

"_Do you see, Kelner? Your worries are completely misguided!" Borusa said with a wave of his hand toward the sleeping Doctor._

"_My worries include more than that, I'm afraid. Your warrior girl has evaded our guards, my lord, and is running loose within the Citadel."_

"_What?" exclaimed the Doctor as he leapt off the couch and threw his hat to the floor. "It is your job to find her, Kelner, and make sure she is removed from the Citadel at once, do you understand?" The Doctor turned to Borusa. "I want a meeting of the council at once!"_

"_Doctor, I protest! This is severely against protocols…"_

"_At once!" the Doctor yelled as he grabbed Borusa by his robes and slammed him against the wall before releasing him. _

_The two frightened men nod in acquiescence and immediately leave his office, the Doctor slamming the door behind them. Finally alone, he leans heavily against the door and slides down it with a sob as he holds his head in his hands…_

* * *

The Doctor stared bug-eyed at the hand proffered to him over the table as if it was sprouting leaves. "What?"

The librarian frowned as she pulled her hand back. "The alternative is over 35,000 credits in book fines, Doctor. From the looks of things, that kind of money is something that you don't have easy access to."

"What would I need with that kind of money, anyway? My pockets aren't nearly deep enough to hold something like that." He turned his front coat pockets inside out and grinned. "32 thousand, maybe…but not 35."

"Hence my offer, Doctor. It's already been pre-approved by Megalonic Publishing, as they've been waiting in anticipation of your return for many years. You just need to sign here, agreeing that you will continue your book series of Doctor Who Discovers for one more book." She slid a piece of paper across the table to the Doctor along with a pen.

"At least they waited instead of sending another one of those blasted robots…" he mumbled as he scanned the contract.

"You should well know that Megalonic only uses those robots when their writers are past their deadlines, Doctor. Whether or not you see them again will be entirely up to you," the librarian said with a pleased smile.

"So…" the Doctor began as he finished reading, "one book, correct? I get to choose the subject?"

"As long as it fits into the current theme of your Doctor Who Discovers books, yes. Your series is actually quite popular, Doctor. Many races use them for their young to teach them how to think about other cultures with an open mind."

"Eh? Really?" he asked as a smile slowly grew across his face. "Well…of course they are! I always do my best to try and help…so it's nice to know it's appreciated."

The librarian extended one of her hands again to shake with the Doctor. This time he took the librarian's hand with a smile and shook it vigorously. "Well then…I mustn't disappoint the children, eh?" He picked up the pen and signed the contract with a flourish before sliding it across the table. The librarian picked it up and folded it carefully before putting it into one of her pockets. "It was a pleasure doing business with you, Doctor."

He stood up and grinned at the librarian. "Oh, we've just got started, haven't we?" He started to look around and huffed, "Now if I can just find Martha…"

* * *

Martha sighed. "You always sacrifice so much for your Companions, Doctor. To think that I drove myself crazy thinking you didn't care about me…when you care about us all so much! So what if you don't say the words… if we'd pay attention we'd realize that your actions say it all."

_The Doctor entered the room with his TARDIS to see many of the Gallifreyan Council and the jungle resistance standing around the police box and clapping for him. He bowed with a smile and flourish of his hat before walking through the crowd to open the TARDIS doors. _

"_Come on, Leela," he said over his shoulder._

_The warrior woman's head dropped to look at the floor as she said quietly, "I'm staying, Doctor."_

_His hand froze with his key in the door at her words. When he had argued with Borusa earlier about his teachings of indifference, he had proclaimed that 'he'd rather care,' but he didn't think his words would be thrown back at him so soon. His fist tightened almost imperceptibly as he drew a breath and turned to face her. "Why?" _

_Leela couldn't bear to see the pain that the Doctor tried so well to hide…so she simply reached out and took the rebel leader Andred's hand._

"_Ah…" the Doctor said to himself as he grinned slightly; he couldn't help but think of the trouble that his warrior woman would start on his stodgy planet. He sighed and looked down at the metal dog by his feet. "I guess it's just you and me then, K-9."_

"_Negative, Master," the metal dog replied in an electronic voice. "I wish to stay and look after Mistress." The Doctor opened his mouth as if to reply…but then stopped and merely turned to enter the TARDIS. _

_Leela suddenly rushed up to the Doctor and grabbed his arm. "Doctor…I will miss you," she said with tears in her eyes as she smiled._

_He gazed into her eyes and smiled as he laughed gently…then entered the TARDIS and closed the doors behind him. He leaned against the doors heavily and sighed as a lone tear rolled down his face. "I'll miss you too, savage."_

_The TARDIS engines started up with a roar and soon the police box vanished out of sight. "Where will he go now, I wonder…" Borusa asked as he looked to Leela. _

_She stared at the empty space where the TARDIS once stood. "Somewhere else…"_

"Did she die too when Gallifrey fell? Oh God…I sure can pick them, can't I?" Martha complained to herself as she finished the book and wiped at her eyes.

"I've asked myself that many times…" the Doctor said as he walked up behind Martha to gaze at the wall of books dedicated to his adventures. "I've lost so many…" he whispered.

Martha stood and gently took his hand in hers to give it a comforting squeeze. "But you haven't lost us all." She waved her hand at the bookshelf. "So many stories…so many adventures…did they all end so sad?"

The Doctor looked at Martha and she swore she could finally see the broken man within when he replied shakily, "They all left me eventually, Martha…like you will too someday. Whether it's by their choice or not, it's always sad to me."

Martha gazed at him in sympathy and reached up to caress his cheek, her thumb wiping away a stray tear. "Whether it hurts or not, this is your life, Doctor…" she gestured with her other hand towards the bookshelf, "and every one of your companions affected you in ways that make you the Time Lord I love now."

He smiled brokenly and cupped Martha's cheek in his cool hand, then leaned down and rested his forehead against hers as he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Instead of always looking back on them in sorrow or trying to deny that they ever existed…how about rejoicing in the fact that you got to know them and be their friend? When…" she swallowed hard, "…when I'm not with you anymore…will you do your best to forget me too?"

"No…I couldn't if I tried," he whispered fervently as he raised his head to look at her.

"Then the very least you can do is give your past companions the same consideration, Doctor. I think it's high time that you see them again," she said firmly.

He sighed and nodded. "You're right." He did his best to smile and cover up the nervousness growing in the pit of his stomach._ Would they be glad, or would they hate him for coming back after so long_? "So…have you thought about who you would like to meet?"

"Well," Martha began forlornly, "the only ones I got to read about…um…" He nodded again in silent understanding. She wasn't about to press him about the people he lost when Gallifrey was destroyed. That tender topic would have to come later. "So…who would you recommend, then?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

The Doctor thought for a moment as he gazed at the bookshelf. "You do realize you weren't the first doctor I had on board, right?" He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and grinned.

"Really?" Martha asked excitedly. "I'd love to talk to them…see if they applied what they learned from you in their own studies."

"There were a few, actually: Liz Shaw, Harry Sullivan, and Grace Ryan. If you're ready to go, I'll tell you about them on the way back to the TARDIS and you can choose."

"Okay…but…can I check out some books? I know we're not going to get a chance to meet everyone…so I'd like to be able to read about them too," Martha asked anxiously.

"I think we can do that…though you'll have to apply for your own card," he mumbled as he tugged at his ear.

"Fantastic!" Martha exclaimed as she turned back to the books. "Now which ones…" she scanned the shelves quickly and grabbed four that drew her attention: _Curse of the Fenric, The Highlanders, The Kingmaker_, and a rather large one called _The Key of Time_.

The Doctor smiled wistfully at Martha's choices. "You do have a knack for picking out the good ones…" he pointed to The Kingmaker and smiled. That one's about how I wrote 'Doctor Who Discovers Historical Mysteries,' actually…you should enjoy that one! Goodness knows it was an interesting adventure…could do without the hangovers, though."

Martha looked at him questioningly. "Hangovers?"

He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair. "Well…you see…"

Martha giggled as she took her choice of books into her arms. "You can add that to the list of things to tell me about over tea back at the TARDIS."


	3. Chapter 3

Martha laughed as the Doctor grinned and gestured wildly while he told the story of the drinking match he had with Shakespeare during the_Kingmaker_ incident. "It's a good thing I don't like ginger beer, then," she said as she sipped her cinnamon tea.

"Oh I agree whole-heartedly, Martha," he replied with a grin. "Time had a field day with me the last time I was inebriated…and I don't think the TARDIS would forgive me if I piloted her while drunk again. So…" he asked as he put his elbows on the table and leaned toward her, "have you thought about who you would like to visit first?"

"Well…" Martha began as she lazily stirred her tea with a spoon, "I asked the TARDIS if there was any current information on them in my time, actually…"

"And?" The Doctor asked as he took a sip of his tea, the cup shaking slightly.

"When you mentioned Liz Shaw, I thought the name rang a bell. I checked, and it turns out I read her paper during my junior year of med school. She's done some amazing research on stem cells and their potential for curing Alzheimer's."

"Really?" It was the Doctor's turn to be surprised. "That's brilliant!" He exclaimed with a huge grin as he sat up. "The old girl never did need me, anyway…said all I really needed was someone to hold my test tubes and tell me how great I was."

Martha laughed. "Oh…now I just _have_ to meet her!"

"Oy!" the Doctor said in consternation before a smile crept across his face. "Cheeky woman…so…what about the others?"

"Doctor Grace Holloway…she's head of the Regional Heart Program at Salinas Valley Memorial in San Francisco, and Harry Sullivan…well…"

"Yes?" He urged her on as his smile fell. "What happened to Harry?"

"I don't know," Martha replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "He has a history where he became a Commodore in the British Navy, but then he kind of…disappeared."

"Commodore Sullivan, eh? Who would've thought it? Now Grace…I should've known she'd still be doing what she loves. I couldn't get her away from it to travel with me…she just helped me out with a problem over New Years after she killed me."

"She did what?" Martha asked angrily.

"Now Martha…it wasn't her fault. I'd been shot multiple times, and she did the best she could without knowing I was an alien. Besides…I rather liked the new incarnation once I got my memory back. You would've liked me…I was quite the gentleman." He winked at her as he took her hand in his and brushed his lips against the back of her hand.

Martha blushed slightly as she replied, "I'm quite fond of the one I've got now, thank you."

He kept her hand in his on the table and stroked it with his thumb as he thought. "So…Harry Sullivan dropped off the face of the Earth…which means there's two other friends of mine that we can visit to see if they know anything about it: Sarah Jane, of course…with her investigative instincts she might know something…and of course the Brigadier! Oh, it's been too long since he yelled at me about parking the TARDIS on his rose bushes…" he rested his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand as he stared off in thought. He let out a chuckle and shook his head as he smiled wistfully. "Anyway…"

"Right," Martha said as she stood up and collected the cups for washing in the sink. "Do you think we could visit Dr. Shaw first?"

The Doctor walked up behind her as she washed the dishes and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "I'll schedule an appointment right away, Doctor Jones," he replied with a kiss to her temple before heading to the main console room.

* * *

"Ah, Cambridge…what an amazing institution for higher thinking with you humans," said the Doctor as he and Martha stepped out of the TARDIS to a bright yet rather cold English morning.

"Oh God, Doctor…you could've told me it was December before we stepped out," Martha complained as she shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing briskly.

"Is it cold?" he looked around and came to rest at Martha staring at him, her teeth chattering noisily. "I'm sorry," he said in sympathy. "I'll wait if you want to go grab a warmer coat from the wardrobe."

She nodded. "B-b-be right back."

He leaned against the TARDIS as Martha ran back inside. _Liz Shaw…blimey…maybe now I can ask why you never said goodbye. Was it the danger? Couldn't have been me, could it? I might have been a bit…stodgy back then, but still…not even a reason?_

"Ready to go," said Martha as she stepped out of the TARDIS wearing a long navy blue fitted coat with black buttons and black furry cuffs and collar. Her hair was down and she wore a matching blue beret to keep her ears warm.

"I should've known Victoria's clothes would fit you perfectly," the Doctor said as he pushed away from the door and held his hand out to her.

"Victoria?" Martha asked as she took his hand and they walked down a tree-lined brick path towards a very large Gothic-inspired building.

"Quite the proper young Victorian Englishwoman who ended up travelling with me briefly in my early days. The danger was all a bit much for her though, and she ended up staying with her new family in the 20th Century. She was petite like you, and had quite the elegant taste." He stopped in front of her and effected a bow with a flourish of his coat as he held her hand. "If I may be so bold, Martha, you look quite beautiful in it."

She blushed as she did her best to curtsey. "Very sweet, Doctor…but I know this version of you too well."

"I don't know what you mean, Martha," he said innocently then slung his arm around her shoulders as they continued walking. "Did you know all the great minds that went to Cambridge?" He held his hand out in front of them and counted on his fingers as he continued, "Bacon, Darwin, Newton, Turing, Cavendish… I could go on and on! Are you sure you don't want to just hop back into the TARDIS and…"

"DOCTOR," Martha said sternly as she stopped walking, causing him to whip around and face her in surprise. "It's okay to be nervous," she said gently as she reached up and straightened his tie. "I'm nervous too."

He opened his mouth as if to contradict her, but changed his mind as he looked down at the ground and closed his eyes. "I can face monsters galore, Martha…but the thought of seeing my companions again after so long…" he looked up at her and smiled crookedly, "it frightens me. Whenever I took a companion with me on my travels, I wanted to give them everything…hope for the future and knowledge of a universe beyond their ken, but…"

"But what?" she urged gently.

He turned to gaze at the building sadly before looking back to Martha. "But what if I made things worse? What if they wish they'd never met me?"

Martha sighed as she looked up at him. "What if you changed their life for the better? You won't know till you ask them…"

"And if I don't see them I can keep lying to myself…tell myself that I did the right thing and everyone is fabulous, and…"

"No, Doctor," Martha said as she took his hands in hers and looked at him with the full weight of eyes that had seen horrors that she still wasn't ready to talk about, "we deserve better than that."

He looked into her eyes in silence, suddenly feeling very, very small. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then turned to face the building as he placed Martha's hand in the crook of his arm. "Too right. We shouldn't keep Doctor Shaw waiting, should we, Doctor Jones?"

"No Doctor, " she agreed and leaned her head against his shoulder with a smile as they walked down the path. "She's waited long enough."

* * *

"Sssh…I think the lecture has already started…" Martha whispered as they opened the lecture hall door quietly as possible. They quickly entered the dark hall and sat down in some of the empty seats by the door to listen to the woman behind the podium:

_"It's a favorite talking point of the anti-embryonic stem cell research crowd: ES cell transplants will never cure Alzheimer's, they claim. But is it true? __Scientists agree that even basic research using embryonic stem cells, including from cloned embryos, holds considerable promise for increasing our understanding of the development of the disease, and that in turn could lead to potential cures. _

_I, however, believe lessons can be learned from stem cell transplants for Parkinson's and other types of neurodegenerative disease. They will reveal a great deal about cell signaling and cell environment that could be applied in Alzheimer's. _

_In 2005 I was lucky enough to work with Professor Kiminobu Sugava when he discovered a DNA related compound that could improve the results of stem cell treatments, and I decided to take that research a step further by combining the compound with…" _

"Bloody brilliant…" the Doctor whispered as a huge grin grew on his face. "Eh, what have I always told you, Martha…I only take the best," he said with pride as he nudged her with his elbow.

"It's nice to know I'm with good company," she whispered back. "Now if you could let me hear the rest of it, this is rather interesting…"

"Oh…right…shutting up now," he said as they turned their attention back to the lecture.

Time passed and eventually the lights came back on in the lecture hall as students began to get up from their seats and mill out the doors. They waited for the crowd to disperse and made their way down the stairs to the lecture floor as Dr. Shaw began to pack up her things. The Doctor smiled with his hands in his pockets as he took in how kind the years had been to her: The bright red hair was peppered with white streaks now, and he was pleased to see her face had quite a few more laugh lines…

"Can I help you?" Liz asked as she looked up from her notes to see the grinning pair standing by her desk. The younger girl was another medical student, she was sure…but there was something about the man accompanying her…

"Doctor Shaw, I just wanted to say how wonderful your lecture was…your paper on stem cell research inspired me during my junior year at medical school, and it's been a real privilege to hear you in person," Martha said as she held out her hand to shake with Liz. "I'm Doctor Martha Jones, and this is my friend, Doctor…"

"…Smith," he completed as he held out his hand in greeting. "Someone told me long ago that you were in need of a doctor to pass you your test tubes and tell you how wonderful you were, so I thought at least for today we might fit the bill." He grinned wide and winked at Liz as her eyes widened in astonishment.

She looked him up and down and said simply, "About time you got rid of the frilly shirts…you just can't get rid of the capes, though, can you?"

"Nah…always wanted to be a super-hero when I was young," he said as he swished his long overcoat around his legs.

"Was?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "You seem to be younger now than you were when I saw you last, Doctor. I guess I should consider myself lucky that you're not traipsing around in a leotard, then." She picked up the last of her papers and put them back into her briefcase with a click. "If UNIT has sent you again, it's going to take a lot more to get me away from my studies this time."

"Nothing so dull as those blokes, Liz," he said as he leaned his hip against the desk and crossed his arms. "I do happen to have a fully-operational TARDIS now, though…fancy a spin around the block?"

She laughed scornfully as she picked up her bag and briefcase. "So I can tell you how wonderful you are again, Doctor? I figured you didn't need me anymore for that."

"Ah now…didn't I say?" he said with a wag of his finger at her, " I'm here because you're the one who's bloody wonderful, Liz…and Doctor Jones here agrees with me." Martha nodded emphatically as he continued, "She's been wanting to meet you ever since I told her she wasn't the first doctor that I travelled with."

"I'd love it if you could join us for dinner, Dr. Shaw. I've been studying as much information as the Doctor lets me get my hands on, and I've been dying to talk to someone who might understand what it's been like for me. Were you ever able to apply anything you discovered with the Doctor to your own studies? What aliens did you meet? Did you…"

Liz laughed genuinely and smiled as she looked at the Doctor. "Inquisitive, isn't she?"

"My Martha's a veritable sponge," he said proudly as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "So what do you say, Liz…would you please join us for dinner?"

She looked at her watch and then back to their hopeful faces with a sigh of resignation. "No Italian food…"

"Not a meatball," he swore.

"All right, then. I'll meet you both at the Green Man in an hour."

"Excellent!" he grinned as he held out his hand. "Thank you, Liz. It's really good to see you again."

She shook his hand and smiled. "We'll see if you say that after you get the bill."

* * *

"There I was, working on my Masters in astrophysics here at Cambridge when Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart came striding in with his usual British aplomb telling me about strange meteors and aliens with two hearts without even cracking a smile," Liz explained as she gestured with her wine glass. "Considering the things he was telling me were contradicting most of the studies I'd just completed, I had to go, of course."

"With the Doctor in the TARDIS?" Martha asked before taking another bite of her crusted salmon filet.

"Just with the Brigadier in an Army vehicle, I'm afraid. I didn't meet the Doctor till later."

"I…didn't really have the TARDIS much back then actually…" the Doctor said with an embarrassed grin as he tugged at his ear.

"You're kidding!" Martha exclaimed in disbelief as she put down her fork. "What happened to it? How'd you manage?"

"Well…it wasn't like I couldn't be _in_ it…it just wasn't going anywhere for awhile. I swear…you take an old TARDIS for a joy ride and they all overreact…" he mumbled as he stared out the window.

"Doctor?" Martha asked questioningly then glanced over at Liz, who had set her wine glass down to look at the Doctor too.

"Don't ask me…he never did tell me why he was stuck at UNIT while I was there. So do tell, Doctor…what made you live like the humans for so long?"

"The Time Lords did," he answered with a sigh as he turned back to them, picked up his fork and began to play with his shrimp scampi. "I was forced to ask for their help during some rather nasty illegal war games that I'd discovered, and my reward was a trial on Gallifrey for taking their precious TARDIS." He stabbed at one of the shrimp with his fork angrily. "Before I knew it my companions were taken away from me and I woke up on Earth with a new face, a de-activated TARDIS, and an affectation for frilly shirts that I wasn't able to shake until my 5th incarnation."

Martha couldn't help but smirk at the thought of her Doctor in a frilly shirt and cape. "I'm almost afraid to ask…" she muttered before taking a sip of her wine.

Liz's eyes brightened. "You know…I might be able to help you there." She bent down and picked up her handbag so she could begin rifling through it. Martha leaned forward eagerly and the Doctor waited with raised brow as Liz sat back in triumph, wielding an old crinkled photo encased in a protective plastic sleeve. "Here you go…the Brigadier let me keep this picture of the team when I left."

Martha took it eagerly and looked at the picture of a younger Liz smiling as she stood with three military men, two were her own age and one was older with a mustache, and an even older man with white curly hair in a velvet suit that reminded her of the Phantom of the Opera. They were all standing in front of a bright yellow antique-looking car that she couldn't quite identify.

"Oh Doctor," she said as she handed the picture over to him with a small giggle, "you look so dashing!"

Liz did her best to hide her laugh behind her napkin as the Doctor took the picture and looked back and forth between the two of them. "Hey now…you didn't tell me this was going to be a "Bash the Doctor session," he said petulantly.

"Come on, Doctor…what did we agree before we did this?" Martha asked as she squeezed his hand.

"That we'd never drink ginger beer again?" he said innocently.

"Besides that," she said with a laugh as she and Liz both looked at him expectantly.

"I'm not the easiest person to live with," he mumbled as he ran his hand over his face.

"Kudos to you, Martha Jones!" exclaimed Liz as she raised her glass in a toast. "I for one never thought I'd hear that from him."

Before Martha could reply the Doctor spoke quietly, "Is that why you left without saying goodbye, Liz?"

"Ah…and the real reason for the visit finally comes out," she said as she lowered her glass to the table.

"Actually, this was all my doing…" Martha said as she looked between them. "I've been the Doctor's companion for a while now, and after learning about all of the people who've travelled with him before me I convinced the Doctor that it was due time to visit."

"Well what do you know…" Liz muttered in surprise before putting her elbow on the table and pointing at the Doctor. "You've got a good one with her…don't screw it up."

The Doctor reached under the table and took Martha's hand in his as he gazed at her fondly. "I already did once…I'm just very lucky that she believes in second chances."

"I've been through too much to give up on you now, Doctor," Martha said as she squeezed his hand. "Besides…where would you be without me?"

"Um…you mean other than a hospital on the moon with a straw stuck in my neck?" he asked, barely keeping a straight face as Martha sputtered her drink.

Liz's eyes boggled at the Doctor's words, then she shook her head slightly as she reached into her bag. "Anyway…you wanted to know why I didn't say goodbye?" She took her wallet out and pulled out a photograph that she slid across the table to him.

He picked up the photograph and turned it over to see Liz as he remembered her…curly red hair, shining eyes, and…a baby? _Oh now….that explains it! _His grin grew wide as he took in the smiling face with the little red curls wrapped in a blanket in Liz's arms. "Fantastic!" he exclaimed as he handed the picture to the now curious Martha.

"Oh…congratulations!" Martha said with a smile. "How old is she now?"

"Jessica is a rather rambunctious 32," Liz said with a laugh as Martha handed the picture back, "and doing post-graduate work here at Cambridge."

"So why didn't you tell anyone? The way the Brigadier explained it, you just left in a huff because I was…you know…" he waved his hand about and Liz grinned at his growing embarrassment.

"So full of yourself?" she said helpfully.

"Yes…that." The Doctor said with an exaggerated sigh as he rolled his eyes.

"Actually…I_did_ tell the Brigadier. It came on as quite a surprise to me, let alone him…so I guess he handled it in the best way he could as a proper British solider and commander of UNIT: he covered it up."

"We're actually planning on trying to see him soon. Should I pass on a message for you?" The Doctor asked as they all began to get up from the table and don their coats.

"Other than to leave Cambridge alone?" she laughed. "No, Doctor…I don't think I have anything more to say. That part of my life has been done for many, many years….but I have to say that it was good to see you again. It's nice to know that while some things change…"

"Others stay the same," he finished emphatically as he hugged her to him. "Goodbye, Liz."

"I'm really glad to have met you, Doctor Shaw, " Martha said as she held her hand out to her. "Thank you so much for everything."

"And I you, Doctor Jones," Liz said as she brushed past Martha's outstretched hand to hug her too. "You're doing a fabulous job with him," she whispered before letting her go. "Well, Alzheimer's isn't going to cure itself…it's time for me to get back to work." She picked up her bag and smiled at the both of them before walking out of the restaurant.

The Doctor sighed heavily and Martha turned to him with a questioning look as they exited the restaurant . "You okay?"

He put his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his feet as he gazed at the stars in contemplation. "You know…I think I am," he said in wonder, then pulled his left hand out of his pocket to extend it toward Martha. "What do you say…shall we go see what Doctor Holloway is doing these days?"


	4. Chapter 4

"So tell me, Doctor…" Martha asked as she hung her new winter coat on the rail across from the main console, "when you said Grace helped you fix a problem over New Year's Eve…what year was that, exactly?"

"A rather auspicious one for you humans actually…at least Prince made it sound like it was…" he answered cheerfully as he began his usual piloting dance around the TARDIS, flipping switches and turning knobs.

"1999, was it?" she asked innocently as she walked up to him, her hands behind her back.

"Yes….that would be the…song…" he dwindled off as he looked at Martha's expression and had the odd feeling that he was in trouble. He cleared his throat before he asked meekly, "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's just…it's probably silly of me to ask," Martha began as she started walking around the console and gesturing with her hands, "but on New Year's Eve of 1999 I was on my way to a fancy dress party and get this…when I leaned against a fence to adjust my shoe strap I fell right through it!" She slapped her thighs with her hands and continued walking around the console. "I had a hell of a time trying to get out of there…ripped my dress climbing over the fence and even missed the dance." As she finished her story she walked up to the Doctor again and smiled sweetly at him. "So my question is…was that you, then?"

The Doctor hesitated to answer as he calculated his running speed compared to Martha's. "Did I cause the time/space anomaly that made everything go wibbly-wobbly on Earth?" He tugged at his ear nervously. "Not as such, no."

Martha's eyebrow shot up in surprise. "Not as such?"

"It wasn't my fault, honestly!" The Doctor complained as he scooted around the console away from Martha and programmed in the coordinates for New Year's Eve 2007 in San Francisco.

"Never is, is it?" she asked sarcastically before sighing and muttering, "I knew it…"

"Now I protest, Martha. It wasn't my choice to have to be on that escort mission, and when the TARDIS malfunctioned it caused me to have to make an emergency landing on Earth where I was almost instantly shot, by the way…lovely welcome. While I was dying under Grace's well-meaning but misguided care he had already escaped and caused more trouble than anyone could imagine."

With a warning beep the TARDIS landed and Martha let go of the railing to grab her coat again. "It's okay, Doctor…really," Martha said with a forgiving smile. "It's kind of funny, actually…you were ruining me for anyone else even before I met you."

"Well then," he said as he donned his coat and walked up to her to take her hands in his with a gentle squeeze, "Forgive me if I can't apologize for keeping the boys away from my Martha Jones."

She chuckled and reached up on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek. "You're forgiven, Doctor."

"Good," he grinned as he turned to walk down the platform to the door, "because we've got another New Year's Eve waiting and I wouldn't want us to miss it." As he turned the handle to open the door, though, he froze as Martha spoke:

"Wait a minute…._who_ had escaped?"

* * *

Martha fumed as they walked up the snowy sidewalk towards the hospital. "I should've known that…" she glanced up at his guarded expression and did her best to reign in her anger for the Doctor's sake, "…ex-Prime Minister… was to blame." She snorted in derision. "I wonder if I can blame him for anything else that happened to me when I was younger?"

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and leaned over to whisper to Martha conspiratorially, "I have it on good faith that he was responsible for all your missing socks."

She laughed out loud at the sudden image in her head of the Master lurking at her Launderette. "One shudders to think what kind of super weapon he made with all the left socks of the world. Odor Intensifier, maybe?"

She looked at the Doctor, who was chuckling quietly. "More dangerous than you can imagine, Martha. I had to give it to the good people of Barcelona, the planet not the city, mind you, for safe keeping."

She looked at him questioningly and he grinned as he pulled his hand out of his pocket to tap his nose, "No noses."

Martha's giggles quickly subsided as they rounded the corner to see multiple ambulances pulled up at the ER with patients hurriedly being wheeled in on gurneys. "I know this show too well," she said to herself as she reached back to grab the Doctor's hand. "Come on…maybe we can help."

They ran up the walk and dodged ambulance drivers as they made their way through the sliding doors into the ER to be confronted with total chaos. Drivers were arguing with nurses as nearly two dozen people in various states of distress crowded around the space left in the waiting room that wasn't taken up by improvised examination rooms.

"We can't take any more patients," the nurse told the driver. "We're full up and understaffed as it is right now and calling in as many doctors as we can."

"This is nothing, lady!" the ambulance driver retorted. "We can't even get into the ER over at Mercy, it's so full up. Next time you better let the bridge know not to collapse on a holiday."

"Oh no…" Martha whispered as she anxiously stood in line to try to talk to the nurse. In front of her stood a hunched over blood spattered man about her age who also seemed to overhear the ambulance driver.

"No way, man…you guys aren't turning me away from this hospital, too," he began to shout to anyone that would listen.

"Martha…" the Doctor whispered a warning to her as he kept a close watch on the man, and she slowly reached her hand into her jacket for her screwdriver.

"Sir, please…" said the weary nurse at the station. "If you would just take a seat with the others, we're trying to get to everyone as soon as we can…"

"So I can wait for hours? Uh-uh, lady…you're going to help me now!" He reached into his jacket when suddenly the Doctor tapped him on the shoulder and spun him around.

"Couldn't help overhearing your problem there…we're doctors who can help you. Right, Martha?"

The man looked at them both in confusion and then in amazement as a white beam of energy flashed briefly around him and he fell to the ground unconscious. "Right, Doctor," she said as she knelt down to look in his jacket and see the gun he was grabbing for. "I just prefer to do it when they aren't armed."

Security finally arrived and helped move the man to a safer room to wait for his turn. Martha sighed deeply in relief and walked up to the nurse at the station to volunteer her help. As she opened her mouth to speak, however, she was interrupted by the Doctor's lament:

"Oh no…look at these shoes! These shoes were perfect, Martha, but he had to go and get blood all over them!" He gestured down to his yellow Chucks that were now decorated with red splotches.

As Martha was about to tell the Doctor what he could do with his shoes a rather harried red haired woman in a black cocktail dress and scrubs peeked out of one of the improvised examining rooms. "Perfect shoes…" she muttered to herself as she scanned the room to rest upon the upset Doctor who looked up at her and smiled.

"Grace! There you are…you wouldn't have any more shoes I could borrow, would you?" he grinned widely at her as she walked up to him and looked at him in amazement.

"That depends," she said with a questioning half smile as she looked him up and down. "You wouldn't have a doctor I could borrow, would you?"

"As a matter of fact…" he wrapped his arm around Martha's shoulders and hugged her to him. "Doctor Grace Holloway, meet Doctor Martha Jones!"

"Ooof! Nice to meet you!" Martha said as she pried herself from the Doctor's side.

Grace looked her up and down. "You're a doctor?" she asked, hope apparent in her face.

"Newly certified, but I did rounds in A&E and would be glad to help out," Martha offered with a smile. She glanced up at the Doctor to see if he'd stop her, but he merely winked at her and smiled.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Grace exclaimed in relief as she grabbed the Doctor's face between her hands and planted a big kiss on his lips. "You're a Godsend, Doctor!"

She grabbed Martha's hand and pulled the chuckling new doctor down the hallway. "Try not to get into trouble, eh?" she called back to the Doctor, who stood frozen with a look of surprise plastered on his face.

* * *

"You've no idea the kind of chaos we're going through right now…a section of the Bay Bridge collapsed tonight and there's been injuries filling up all the hospitals for miles around. Top that with most of us being short of staff over the holidays, and you've got one massive FUBAR situation," she explained to Martha as she showed her where to clean up and get a set of scrubs.

"What kind of injuries are we looking at first?" Martha said as she disinfected her hands under the hot water.

"Luckily we've been able to perform triage on the patients we've had so far." She pulled a chart off the wall and consulted it. "All the worst ones that we know of so far have already gone to surgery, thank God. It's all the painful yet currently non-fatal injuries that are piling up right now. " She ran a finger down the chart. "First up, Mr. George Lockwood. He's a mess of broken limbs from collarbone to ankle, but he's stable." She looked up from the chart and smiled at Martha as she donned her scrubs. "Ready to go to work, Doctor Jones?"

Martha snapped her gloves on and smiled. "Let's not keep Mr. Lockwood waiting!"

The Doctor grinned lopsidedly as he watched the doors close behind two of his favorite doctors. _I should've introduced those two sooner. _He stuck his hands in his trouser pockets and looked around at the crowd of people waiting for a doctor. _I might not have a human medical degree…but I know how to help people._

He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his coat pocket and strolled through the waiting room until he came upon a weary early-teen boy holding his sleeping little sister, both of them scratched and bruised. "Well what do we have here, then?" he whispered to the boy as he crouched down in front of their chair and began scanning both of them.

The boy looked down at his sister and hugged her tighter to him before looking back up to the Doctor. "We're waiting for our Dad…he got hurt real bad. You a doctor?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," he said with a smile. "My friend Martha's a doctor too…and you can be sure that she's doing everything in her power to help." He finished his scan and looked at his readings on the screwdriver. "It looks like you could use my help…" he looked to the boy in anticipation.

"Jack," he answered.

The Doctor grinned wide. "Nice to meet you, Jack. My name's Doctor Smith, but you can just call me Doctor. Did you know that you have hairline fractures in your ribs, Jack?"

"My sister though…is she okay?" Jack asked worriedly as he looked down at her.

"Your sister is fine other than a few scrapes," he assured him. "Considering where the fractures are, I'm guessing that you protected her, yes?" The Doctor asked as he switched through the settings on his screwdriver until he came to the one for bone mending.

"That's what big brothers are supposed to do," Jack answered simply.

"Indeed they are, Jack." The Doctor agreed with a nod as he pointed the screwdriver at him and began mending the fractures.

The boy breathed in sharply. "That feels weird…"

"I know…I know…but it won't take long, I promise. Your bones have to knit back together again, so I need you to try and sit still while this works, okay? Did you know that one of my best friends is named Jack? Captain Jack, even. You remind me of him, actually, since you do your best to save others because it's the right thing to do. I wonder if he was saving little girls when he was your age? He was probably saving the little boys, too. I'll have to ask him…and there! All done!"

"You're funny, Doctor," Jack giggled and then looked at him in surprise. "Hey…it doesn't hurt!"

"Amazing what doctors can do these days," the Doctor said with a grin as he stood up and pocketed his screwdriver. He reached deep into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a small white teddy bear that he placed with the sleeping girl. "Keep up the good work, Jack." He patted the boy gently on the shoulder and moved on through the crowd.

* * *

"So…that's the Doctor?" Grace asked as they worked on cleaning up and closing the wounds of the unconscious Mr. Lockwood. They'd worked hard setting his collarbone, ribs, knee and ankle, and now Grace thought she could finally ask what's been on her mind since she saw them. "He's a bit…different than the last time I saw him."

Martha smiled in chagrin. "Apparently he does that a lot. From what he told me, he regenerates into a new body every time he dies. " Grace's eyes widened in amazement. "Freaky, I know. I've got so used to this one that I've been doing everything I can to make sure he keeps it. What did he look like when you met him?"

"So that's what…" she mumbled to herself and shook her head quickly as she leaned back over their patient. "At first he was short and older…with the worst taste in pants I'd ever seen. Other than that, I was kind of busy to notice much more."

"He told me about that, actually," Martha said as she used her sonic screwdriver to close some of the wounds. "He said you…caused him to regenerate?"

Grace snorted. "If you mean 'killed him,' then yes, I did. It was chaos that night…being pulled from an opera to operate on a man shot in the chest 4 times only to find out that you tried to operate on the wrong heart," she answered quietly. "When I found out with the X-rays afterwards that he had two hearts, I didn't know what to think! Then the hospital swept him under the carpet…till he showed up in the car park with a whole new body and pulling stents out of his chest in my car!"

"Wow…" Martha whispered. "I met him at my hospital too, actually. He wasn't shot, but he was still a patient." She smiled as she remembered his flirting when Dr. Stoker made her check his heart so long ago. "I didn't know what to think either when I heard his two hearts…I thought I was crazy!"

"At least you didn't kill him," Grace lamented as she finished closing up their patient. "You know, I've got to get one of those tools like you've got."

"He told me he liked his new body better anyway, so I wouldn't fret about it too much," Martha consoled. "Besides, I may not have had to operate on him, but we did get our hospital teleported to the Moon by a bunch of Judoon with no respect for people in their way. If it weren't for the Doctor being willing to sacrifice himself, we all might have died." She finished with her screwdriver and pocketed it. "I wish I could give every doctor one of these…but then the Doctor wouldn't feel so special anymore, and we wouldn't want that."

Grace laughed as she went to the cabinets and brought out the bandages necessary for creating the multiple casts their patient needed. "He_was_ quite the looker…velvet jacket, long curly hair, British accent…the personality, though…enough to cause the makers of Ritalin to explode in joy."

Martha lost it and had to turn away from the patient as she laughed so hard that she had to catch her breath. "Oh God…he's even worse now, I'm sure! Still the looker, though."

Grace smiled ruefully as she bent over their patient and started wrapping his ankle. "So tell me…what's it like travelling with him?"

Martha thought hard about how to explain it as she wrapped the patient's knee. "It's like staring at the sun too long, I guess. Everything you know tells you that it's dangerous, that you shouldn't do it…but you just can't help it. It's so beautiful…so powerful…so amazing…so eternal…you can't stop. Some days it shines so bright that you feel like you're going to burn from it…and other days…" she sighed and stopped wrapping the cast as she looked up at Grace with moisture in her eyes. "…other days you wonder what you did to make the sun go away, you know?"

"Oh hon…" Grace said as she looked at Martha in sympathy. "I had a feeling that it might be like that."

"Is that why you didn't go with him? I've wondered ever since he told me about you…how you chose your career over…what he offered."

Grace sighed as she finished wrapping the ankle. "I can't say I didn't think about it…that I don't still think about it today, really. In the end, though…he made me realize what I had forgotten. I became a doctor because I wanted to turn back Death, Martha…and I don't need to go travelling in space to try and find it. There's plenty of it right here in San Francisco." She grinned a half smile. "So tell me, Martha…why did you choose to go with him?"

"I guess…" she gnawed at her bottom lip as she finished the cast around the patient's knee, "…because he's an enigma cloaked in answers, if that makes sense. All my life I've wanted to _know_ things. I had to know the answers to everything…and when I met the Doctor, he seemed like he held the key to all of that."

"But?" Grace nudged gently.

"But…for all my wanting answers from him, sometimes it feels like he needs to_tell_ me just as much. I mean…what must it be like, being the last of your kind and living for so long? You've done and seen things that no one can imagine…what will happen to those experiences when you're gone? I think he has a driving need to share those experiences with someone so that they won't fade away. Add to that the fact that he's been so lonely for so long…even if he won't admit it sometimes, and he really needs someone by his side."

"Sounds like a win-win situation to me then," Grace said as they began working together to tightly wrap the patient's ribs.

Martha laughed to herself. "Yeah, I guess it is." She bent down and helped Grace move the patient slightly so that they could get the wrap around his back. When they finally finished they set him down gently and Martha smiled at Grace. "Thank you."

"For what? I'm the one who should be thanking you for the help," Grace said with a raised eyebrow as they walked to the nurses' station to see who was next.

"For reminding me why I chose my path. After everything that's gone on while travelling with the Doctor, a part of me couldn't help feeling guilty for not choosing to stay and work in a hospital somewhere," she answered as she leaned back against the station.

"Nonsense," Grace said matter-of-factly as she grabbed a chart off the wall. "Being a doctor is who you are and what you do, Martha…not where you do it. Besides…you seem to me the type who would be happier discovering new ways to help people instead of pulling 12-hour clinic duty." She tapped Martha's shoulder gently with the clip board. "Am I right?"

Martha thought back to all the different people and races they've helped since she met the Doctor. _Haven't I been doing what I was trained to do? Sure, sometimes they had more than one heart…or head…and I've very rarely seen a hospital in our travels since we left the Royal Hope…but I'm still a doctor._ She idly fingered the sonic screwdriver in her pocket that the Doctor gave her. _There's so much he's taught me…so much I still have to learn…_

"I'll take it by your silence and that smile on your face that I'm right," Grace said with a grin as Martha shook herself out of her reverie. Grace put an arm around her shoulders and escorted her down the hall. "Come on, Doctor Jones…we've got more patients waiting, and I plan on keeping you busy on Earth for as long as he lets me."

* * *

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair as he took a deep breath and looked around the much emptier waiting room in satisfaction. He'd helped as many people as he could while the doctors at the hospital got to the rest, and after a few hours new patients finally stopped coming in. He looked up at the clock over the nurses' station and noticed the time.

"11:30? That just won't do, will it?" he said in a huff. He walked up to the nurse at the station and said affably, "Hello there, so sorry to bother you after all the hard work you've been doing tonight…but if by chance a Doctor Grace Holloway or Doctor Martha Jones comes by looking for me, could you tell them that I'll be right back? I just have to hop out and get something."

The nurse rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with one hand as she reached for a pen with the other. "And you are?"

"Oh…the Doctor."

"You and 6 others here, mister. Doctor who?"

"Just 'The Doctor.' They'll know who you're talking about," he said with a wink and his best charming grin as he tapped the counter and strolled through the automatic doorway to the brisk winter air. He ran down the sidewalk and turned the corner to the familiar sight of his TARDIS by the entrance to the hospital parking garage. He pulled his key from his pocket and with a smile he opened the door to greet his ship again. "It looks like you and I have some dress shopping to do for our companion," he said with a gentle pat of the console as he walked up to it.

"God, I can't believe we're finally done!" Grace said in amazement as she looked at the triage chart. "What happened to that crowd of patients that were waiting out there earlier? Were they all helped?"

"Yes, Doctor Holloway. It's the most amazing thing, though…while many patients were admitted, a number of them suddenly claimed they were okay when we got to them. They said the doctor helped them, but I can't figure out who managed to treat them all!"

Martha chuckled to herself as she put two and two together. "At least he didn't get into any trouble, right?" she said to Grace.

A slow grin of realization spread across Grace's face. "I could kiss him all over again…"

"He does ellicit that reaction a lot…" Martha said. "Personally, I think it's the tight pants," she joked as they pushed through the double doors into the waiting room. She put her hands on her hips as she looked around the waiting room. "Great…now where is he?"

Grace started to scan the waiting room as well when she was interrupted by the attending nurse at the desk. "Doctor Holloway? A message was left for you by a guy who called himself 'The Doctor?' He said he'd be right back. What kind of name is that, anyway? Bit pretentious, isn't it?"

"I thought that too at first," Martha agreed with the nurse in a conspiratorial tone. "He earned it quick, though."

"Besides," said Grace, "It's a bit of a requirement to be a doctor these days." She suddenly spied the Doctor walking up the curb to the doors of the ER with a clothing bag slung over his shoulder and a grin plastered on his face. "Our friend's back," she whispered as she nudged Martha.

"Ah, there's two of my favorite doctors!" exclaimed the Doctor as he walked up to them with a smile. "I thought we could celebrate a night of being able to help people and hold back death by celebrating the birth of the new year. What do you say?"

It was then that Martha noticed that he'd changed into his tux under his coat instead of his usual blue suit. She looked up at the clock and noticed that it was 11:45. "Do you think we've got enough time, Doctor?"

He looked at her with a raised brow. "Martha Jones…you've been travelling with me for how long?"

She laughed to herself. "My mistake…chalk it up to long hours." She turned to Grace and smiled. "Would you care to join us?"

Grace smiled and shook her head gently. "I appreciate the offer…but all of us who got called in tonight are going to celebrate here at the hospital." She walked up to the Doctor and took his hand in hers as she grinned at him. "It was great seeing you again."

He grinned back. "You too, Grace. Keep fighting the good fight." He set the clothing bag on the nurses' desk and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug. "Thank you for everything…and may your years continue to be new and fantastic."

Eventually he set her back down and Martha stepped up for her turn to say goodbye. "Thank you too, Grace…you really helped me out."

Grace chuckled as she pulled Martha into a friendly hug. "Least I could do, Doctor Jones…your help was invaluable tonight. Take care of yourself and him," she said with a poke at his side.

"Oi! Quite capable, thank you…" he said in mock disdain.

They both put their hands on their hips and looked at him with raised brow in silence.

"Um…most of the time…" he mumbled with a tug of his ear.

"Right…anyway," Grace said as she turned back to Martha, "Feel free to look me up if you ever find yourself in San Francisco again. You'll always be welcome. Until then, have a Happy New Year!" With a wave of her hand and a smile on her face she turned back to walk through the double doors and disappeared.

The Doctor sighed as he watched Grace go, and then turned to Martha who was looking at the clothing bag on the desk.

"Right…so what's this then?" she asked curiously.

"Well…after you told me about what happened to you over New Year's, I figured I'd try and make things up to you…"

Martha's eyes lit up and she quickly moved to unzip the bag. She peered inside to see a gold evening gown with a single shoulder strap and sequined bust that flowed down to flared fabric from the knee to the ground. From the shoulder hung a silk wrap also bordered with matching sequins, as well as a pair of strappy gold pumps. "Oh my God…" she whispered as she saw a replica of the dress that she last wore in 1999. "How did you…" she began as she turned to him in amazement.

"Time machine," he answered simply. "You looked so beautiful and happy when you left your parents' house to go to the party that night…" he took her hands in his and squeezed them gently. "I want you to have that night again that I kept you from…and I'd be honored if you'd greet the new year by my side." He bent down over her hands and brushed his lips against the backs of them reverently. As he made to stand up straight again, however, Martha surged forward and stood on her tip toes as she grabbed his lapels to kiss him hard on the lips.

Once he got over his initial surprise the Doctor's hands framed Martha's hips and lifted her up to fit against him as he slanted his head to deepen the kiss. She sighed in pleasure and slid her hands up to weave into his hair and caress the back of his neck as he moaned in reciprocation.

Suddenly around them they could hear people counting out loud. "10-9-8-7…"

Martha pulled back from the kiss in concern. "I guess we're going to miss the party after all…"

The Doctor gazed deeply into her dark eyes as he held her tightly to him. "I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd rather be, Martha Jones," he whispered.

"Me either," Martha answered with bright eyes as she brought her hand up to caress his cheek.

Around them the people still left at the hospital began to yell in joy. "Happy New Year!"


	5. Chapter 5

Martha leaned back against the arm of the sofa in the TARDIS library and stretched out as she picked up one of the books that she had got from Biblios. The Doctor wanted to do a few repairs while they idled in the Vortex before they went to visit Sarah Jane Smith, so Martha thought she'd take the time to learn more about some of the Doctor's other companions. "So what's next," she asked herself as she flipped the book over to look at the cover. "_The Highlanders_? So much for there being only one," she joked as she opened the book to the first page and began reading.

_On a bleak moorland in 1746 a long and bloody battle had finally come to an end as Scottish rebels led by the Bonnie Prince Charlie were routed by the British Army. Not all have given up on Culloden Moor, however, as four highlanders stumbled away from the battle amid bursts of gunfire and the sounds of braying horses: a younger boy and girl holding up the wounded Laird of Clan McClaren followed closely by a dark haired young man who was their faithful clan piper…_

* * *

The Doctor ran his hands through his tousled hair as he paced around the TARDIS console. He'd told Martha that he wanted to do repairs on the TARDIS, but it was really just a cover to give him time to think about his impending book. "What should I write about? It's not like I can write about Quantum Physics for children…well…most children, anyway…and I've already done my favorite subjects…" He stopped pacing and sighed as he put his hands on his hips and stared up at the ceiling of the control room. "The last thing I need is a visit from one of those blasted robots again." He scratched his head behind his ear as he thought. "Well…not the last thing…I can think of tons of things worse, actually…but it would be down right annoying. Now being forced on one of Mel's all-celery diets again…that's something else entirely," he rambled when all of a sudden an idea came to him. "I know!" he said brightly as he leapt down off the platform around the main console and began to head down one of the hallways. "I'll go check the library! Surely something there can give me a good idea…"

* * *

Martha's foot bobbed lazily in the air as she rested her right leg on her knee and sank comfortably into the velvet sofa. She counted her blessings as she read about the squalid conditions the Doctor and his companions suffered through aboard the slave ship _Annabelle_. "Ugh…and I thought it was bad being kidnapped and stuck on the freeway…"

_The bound and gagged struggling body of Jim Mews slid off the edge of the moldy plank jutting out over the ocean into the dark water below with a sickening splash and was soon seen no more._

'_Once aboard the Annabelle, that's the only way you'll get off her," warned the grisly Captain Trask. 'Straight downwards!'_

_Ben, Jamie and the Laird watched helplessly as the body disappeared, and were then shoved unceremoniously towards a trap door in the deck. One of the crewmen pulled the door open and a shaft of light illuminated the dim gloom below. _

"_Disgusting…what have you got down there, stinking fish?" asked Ben with a wrinkle of his nose toward the captain._

"_That's exactly what it is," replied Trask with a sneer. "Stinking fish! Now why don't you go join the rest of the fish like a good lad…or else you'll be tasting the cutlass of your master!"_

Martha reached behind her and grabbed the bookmark she had left on the table by the sofa. She carefully marked her place and set the book down on the floor as her body arched in a full stretch, her toes pointing out straight and her arms stretched wide. _Rotten slavers…I'll get back to you later. For now though… a cup of tea is in order._ She pushed herself up off the sofa and strolled to the doorway, only to have to stop short to keep herself from running headlong into a very distracted Doctor.

"Martha!" the Doctor exclaimed in surprise. "Would you read a book about the pitfalls of mixing animals and radiation together? I was looking through Earth data banks and found reference to this character who gets his powers from radioactive spiders, and I thought I could write a suitably informative warning since I have first hand experience dealing with evil radioactive spiders. On the other hand, I thought about writing about London's Great Fire of 1666, but then I remembered that I was actually partly responsible for that one and it wouldn't be too good an idea to broadcast that…"

Martha stared at him wide-eyed and speechless as she tried to absorb the Doctor's ramble. "Wait a minute," she finally said. "You're trying to write a book? What brought this on?"

"Didn't I tell you?" the Doctor said as he tugged at his ear. "I kind of got conned into writing another book for Megalonic Publishing in order to pay for those late fees I racked up…so…Doctor Who Discovers Medicine? I'm sure you'd be up for that one, Martha…did I tell you I studied with Joseph Lister in 1888? Would've gotten my medical degree too, if it weren't for being summoned by the High Council of Gallifrey, thank you very much. Hey… do you think Liz and Grace would like to be in it?"

Martha rubbed her temples and closed her eyes briefly. "Tell you what…I was headed to the kitchen for a cup of tea, so why don't you join me and I'll make two while you start at the beginning of all this, yeah?"

"Capital idea, Martha Jones! I knew coming to the library was a good idea," he said as he stepped back and let Martha pass to head towards the kitchen.

"So…you've got to write another book for the 'Doctor Who Discovers' series in order to pay off your late fees?" Martha asked incredulously as she pulled out a box of ginseng tea that they had picked up when they were last in 9th Century China from the cupboard.

"Yup, I should've known that librarian was up to something with the way her third arm kept fidgeting, but I'm afraid I walked into that one," the Doctor replied as he followed her into the kitchen and opened another cupboard to grab some mugs.

"Doctor…honestly…you 'walk into' everything, you just rely on your intelligence and companions to always get you through it," Martha said with a roll of her eyes as she filled up the kettle with water and set it on the stove.

"And none of you have failed me yet," he said with a nudge to her side and a wink. "That's why I always pick the brilliant ones."

She smiled at the Doctor and sat down at the table to wait for the water to boil. "So you're having trouble picking a topic, is that it?"

"You hit the problem on the proverbial nose, Doctor Jones," the Doctor answered as he joined her at the table. "The initial series were youth oriented books, so I need to find a topic that might interest the younger generation as well as multiple cultures."

"Like experimenting with radiation on animals?" Martha asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah…well…" he muttered as he suddenly found great interest in the tabletop. Martha looked at him patiently and he muttered quickly, "I didn't exactly have a normal childhood."

Martha got up to look for some biscuits in the cupboard to try and cover her barely restrained laugh at the thought of the Doctor being a mischievous little child trying to irradiate spiders with a ray gun. She grabbed some walnut ones and set them on the table as she sat back in her chair. "I think your problem is you're trying to be too specific." She reached out across the table to take his hand in hers and caress it with her thumb. "You know…" she began carefully, wondering how the Doctor might take her idea. "I may only know about Earth kids so far, but a lot of them go through periods of alienation when they separate themselves from their family in order to forge new bonds of friendship with others...that's something you know a lot about, right?" She gnawed at her lip nervously as she looked up at the Doctor's expression to see him looking at her curiously. She sighed inwardly in relief, she never knew when mentioning his home might cause trouble. "You've been travelling for hundreds of years and made so many friends along the way after you left home…why not write about that?"

"'Doctor Who Discovers Wanderlust?'" he asked curiously before taking a bit of a biscuit.

"No, silly…" Martha said with a laugh as she heard the kettle start to whistle and got up to get it. "'Doctor Who Discovers Family,' maybe?" She brought the kettle over and filled their cups. "Or… how about 'Doctor Who Discovers He's Actually Not Alone?'"

"Family…" he whispered to himself as he wrapped his hands around his steaming mug. _He'd done his best not to think of the concept of family ever since Susan left…it had hurt too much. And then…after Gallifrey was destroyed…had he built a life around being alone so much that he didn't see what was right in front of him? _The TARDIS engines rumbled in affirmation at his epiphany. _Is that why I never went back to see them again? Even before Gallifrey…they were all my friends…I always claimed I left them because I didn't want them to get hurt…but maybe I was trying to keep myself from getting hurt too._

"Doctor?" Martha asked quietly as she set the kettle back on the stove and knelt down to look up at him. "Are you all right?" He had gone so quiet…she prayed that she hadn't pushed too hard again.

"Ah Martha…I can't understand how you humans do it sometimes," he replied and sighed. "Even though you know eventually you will lose it all, you keep trying every day."

Martha smiled and took his hands in hers. "Nothing lasts forever, Doctor…and many of us humans have accepted that, so we go out and live our lives to the fullest in that oh-so brief period we've been blessed with. That transience drives us to try every day, even when we know there is that chance of failure…because if we don't try, then we've already failed, haven't we? But if we do try, and succeed…the rewards are _so_ great." She squeezed his hands gently and could feel her eyes begin to fill as she thought about all that she's gone through with the Doctor. "Some things are worth the pain…and like the back of one of the books on Biblios said, 'Some things are worth the monsters.'"

The Doctor tugged at Martha's hands and pulled her up into a hug as he let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Thank you so much, Martha Jones," he whispered in her ear.

Martha knew deep down that those words applied to more than their current conversation as she blinked away her tears and hugged him tightly, her arms wrapped around his shoulders. "Anytime, Doctor."

After a few minutes of comfortable silence as they held each other he sniffed then relaxed his arms to lean back and look at Martha. "So…ready to find the rest of the extended family?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

"I thought you'd never ask," Martha joked as she returned to her chair and her now cooling tea. "I'd started reading the books I got from Biblios again while waiting for you to be ready to travel again."

"Oh really? Which one are you reading now?" he asked curiously before taking a drink from his mug.

"This one's called _The Highlanders_ and you were travelling with a duo named Ben and Polly, and…" Martha began as she dunked one of the biscuits into her tea.

"Jamie McCrimmon! Now there was quite a gallant Scot," The Doctor said nostalgically as he reached for another biscuit. "He was so protective of Victoria when she came aboard the TARDIS he nearly took my head off when she decided to stay with her new family. " He stopped in mid dunk of his biscuit into his tea and sighed. "Shame how he left, though," he muttered and then proceeded to dunk his biscuit and eat it quickly before it fell apart.

"Come on then, do tell…" Martha urged as she finished up her cup. "I don't think the book I'm reading covers how he left."

"No, that came a few years later, actually…right before my 3rd regeneration. Remember how I said I came about that one?" he asked before downing the rest of his tea.

"Woke up with a new face, no companions and a predilection for capes? Oh…" Martha said as it dawned on her. "The Time Lords took him away to punish you? Those buggers!"

"More than three years travelling together, taken away in an instant. His memory was erased and he was placed back in 1746 Scotland to live out the rest of his normal life," the Doctor explained as he got up and began searching through one of the cupboards. Eventually he pulled out two shot glasses and a dusty bottle of liquid with a yellowed label on it.

"What are you doing Doctor? I never thought of you as the drinking type," Martha asked as she got up and cleaned up their mugs.

"I generally don't drink…but given the topic of discussion, I thought it fitting that we honor Jamie." He turned the bottle in his hands to read the label: _1743 Scotch Whiskey – From the larders of Clan MacLaren._ "I was going to age it more, but what better time to open it, eh?" he gingerly popped the cork from the bottle and poured out a shot of the 260 plus year old whiskey into each glass before handing one to Martha, who took a careful sniff of the potent liquor.

"So, what shall we say?" Martha asked curiously.

"Jamie had a battle cry he always let loose when he charged into battle:_Creag an tuire_, which means 'The Boar's Rock.' It was a motto of the Clan MacLaren," he answered as he re-corked the bottle and picked up his shot glass.

"Okay…I think I can manage that," she said with a smile. "To Jamie McCrimmon, dedicated piper…"

"Brave friend…" the Doctor added.

"And honorable man," Martha finished as she raised her shot glass.

"You're missed, Jamie," the Doctor said as he raised his glass to Martha's. "Creag an tuire!" he exclaimed before downing his whiskey in a quick gulp.

"Creag an tuire!" Martha echoed before glancing nervously at the shot and then downing it all in a gulp. She was immediately overcome with coughing as the alcohol left burning a path down her throat to her stomach.

"You okay, Martha?" The Doctor asked worriedly as he set down his glass and put a hand to her back.

"I'll live, " she said breathlessly. "I'm just not used to alcohol like that!"

"Afraid the Scots didn't water down their alcohol back then," the Doctor said apologetically as he put the shot glasses in the sink and put the bottle back in the cupboard.

"It's okay," Martha assured him as she fanned herself. "So anyway…where do we go for our first lead towards finding the mysterious Harry Sullivan?"

"Doctor Martha Jones, it's time for you to meet one of the best investigators I know, as well as one of my very best friends as well as Harry's….Sarah Jane Smith!"


	6. Chapter 6

"Did the Doctor ever tell you about some of the adventures we had back in the day?" Sarah Jane asked as she cradled the now sniffling Martha Jones in her arms and rocked her back and forth.

"He's talked about you…but I'm afraid he never went into detail," Martha muttered.

"Huh…at least he talked about me this time," Sarah Jane responded sarcastically.

"He doesn't forget…" Martha replied with more confidence as she wiped at her eyes and sat up next to her. "It's just…he…he's lost so much that he's afraid that if he comes back to see his past Companions he'll lose them for good too."

"I thought something had changed about him when I saw him last…" Sarah Jane said to herself. "He still hides his feelings behind that manic façade, but underneath all I could see was… sadness. Tell me, Martha," she asked as she squeezed her shoulder gently and looked her in the eyes. "What happened to him?"

Martha looked at her sadly and thought back to how she found out how Gallifrey was destroyed. _If it weren't for what happened on Pakhar, he probably never would've told me…what right do I have to tell his secrets?_ "I'm sorry, Sarah Jane…it's not for me to tell. Needless to say, though…he needs all of us like never before." She reached up and squeezed the hand on her shoulder. "So…what was your Doctor like?"

Sarah Jane gnawed her bottom lip as she took in Martha's response, and after a deep breath, sighed in resignation. "You're right," she said before dropping her hand from Martha's shoulder and looking down at her hands in her lap. _I'll just have to ask him myself._ She smiled slightly and looked up at Martha with a gleam in her eye. "Would you like to see some pictures?"

"Would I!" Martha exclaimed as her mood brightened and she stood to follow Sarah Jane upstairs. "I've only seen two other pictures of him…one he said was his seventh incarnation, and the other was his…third, I think. He had white curly hair and dressed like a…"

"Dandy?" Sarah offered.

"That would be him," Martha agreed with a laugh. "We met Dr. Liz Shaw and she showed me a picture of their group when he worked at UNIT. I loved all the velvet…and that car!"

"Liz Shaw? I remember hearing about her from the Brigadier…but I think she left before I got to meet her. Don't knock the car, though. Bessie was quite a mover thanks to the Doctor's…_improvements_."

"I just can't imagine him getting a driver's license," Martha joked as they came to the top of the stairs. "He's bad enough piloting the TARDIS sometimes."

Sarah Jane laughed as she unlocked the door to her attic. "You've no idea," she said as she opened the door and ushered a wide-eyed Martha in to gaze at her eclectic stash of alien technology spread around amidst piles of books. "Pardon the mess, I didn't realize I was going to have company this morning."

"Oh my God…look at all this stuff!" Martha exclaimed in amazement. "You'd think I stepped back into one of _his_ rooms…" she muttered as she walked around to see if she could identify any of the various gadgets.

"Oh dear, I didn't realize it had got _that_ bad…" Sarah Jane muttered to herself as she looked around the room in concern. "Anyway, I promised you some pictures," she said as she went to her desk and started rifling through some papers.

Martha's hands itched to touch some of the strange gadgets lying on the tables…especially the one labeled "Mysterious circuit used by Time Travelers?" If there was one lesson she learned from traveling with the Doctor, though…it was to keep your hands to yourself till you knew what you were doing.

"Aha!" Sarah Jane exclaimed in success as she blew some dust off of a large photo album. "Here we go…"

"That's quite a big album!" Martha said in surprise as she joined Sarah Jane at her desk.

"Well…when you've travelled with more than one Doctor, you gather a lot of pictures," she replied.

"More than one?" Martha looked at Sarah Jane in amazement. "Really?"

"Unfortunately," Sarah Jane said in chagrin. "I'd have been quite happy with just one regeneration." She opened up the book and flipped through a few pages of slightly yellowed photos. "He was the velvet dandy when I met him at UNIT…but thanks to some rather nasty spiders he became this eccentric Bohemian that I grew to love." She turned the page with a smile and pointed at a tall man in a long maroon coat with curly brown hair wearing a multi-colored scarf that seemed to go on forever.

"And here I thought he couldn't get any taller," Martha joked. "Wait a minute…nasty spiders? Nasty, evil, radioactive spiders?"

Sarah Jane shuddered. "Big as your head and larger," she said with a nod as she reflexively checked her back to make sure there wasn't anything crawling there.

"No wonder he hates spiders so much. Can't say as I blame him."

"You should've seen him around…wait a minute…what's that noise?" Sarah Jane asked distractedly as she stood up and walked towards the attic window.  "Oh no…what did those two get into now?" she exclaimed in frustration as she quickly turned and ran down the stairs.

"Sarah Jane?" Martha asked in concern as she stood up to also look out the window. "What's going on?" She soon spied the problem, however, as she watched the Doctor trying to shoo some too curious kids out of his TARDIS. "Oh boy…"

* * *

"How did you…why are you…out! Now!" The Doctor spluttered as he walked up to Luke and Maria and shooed at them like pesky flies.

"Hey…it's not our fault…she let us in!" complained Maria as she turned around and placed her hands on her hips in defiance.

The Doctor stopped short in his tirade and closed his mouth with a snap, then looked up at the ceiling questioningly. "She did?" The lights flared briefly in the console room in silent confirmation. "But why…"

"Can't you feel it?" Luke asked the Doctor in wonder as he reverently touched the console. "She hasn't seen children in so long…"

The Doctor walked up beside Luke and looked at him in wonder and concern._We are so going to have a talk, Sarah Jane…_ "You can hear her?"

Luke stepped back from the console and stared at his hand before looking up at the Doctor in doubt. "Well…sort of. It's more like…I can tell what she's feeling. Either that…" he looked up at the ceiling and smiled, "or she just wanted me to know."

Maria sidled up to Luke. "We weren't hurting anything, and we know enough not to go pressing buttons or picking up stuff without asking," she assured the Doctor. "We learned our lesson after helping out Sarah Jane with the Slitheen."

The Doctor's eyebrow shot up. _We're really going to have a talk, Sarah Jane._ He placed his hand on the console and thought. _Why didn't you tell me?_

Flashes of images of his many adventures sped through his mind and he sighed._You're right…we haven't seen many children at all, have we? Not since we left…_ His hand dropped limply from the console and he turned to speak to Maria, when all of a sudden Sarah Jane came running through the door of the TARDIS.

"I'm so sorry…I told them not to interfere with anything," she said in concern between deep breaths as she grabbed the railing for support.

Martha soon followed behind and looked at the Doctor's melancholy expression worriedly. "Is everything okay?"

"It's alright, Sarah Jane. No harm done," he assured her with a smile as he patted her hand on the railing. "In fact…" he turned to Maria and Luke, "There's some rooms down the left corridor that you might enjoy. She'll show you the way. Just…make sure you listen to her, okay?"

Maria's expression still remained doubtful as Luke smiled brightly. "You sure it's okay?"

The Doctor sighed and smiled. "I'm sure. Go on, now," he said then gestured down the hallway.

Luke quickly grabbed Maria's hand and pulled her in that direction before she could say anything else. "Thanks, Doctor!"

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and turned back to Sarah Jane and Martha who were both looking at him in shock.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You_have_ changed…haven't you?" Sarah Jane asked in wonder as Martha merely chuckled and shook her head.

"In more ways than you know, Sarah Jane," he said with a sad half smile as he strolled down the ramp to the doors of the TARDIS. "You wouldn't have any of those chocolate biscuits hidden away anywhere, would you? I find confessions go better with chocolate."

* * *

Sarah Jane sighed and leaned against the counter in her kitchen as the Doctor told her the final facts about Gallifrey's destruction. He couldn't look at her as he calmly and quietly told her that he was the one forced to destroy Gallifrey to prevent the Daleks from obtaining their power…he just stared at the table top as he munched on the biscuits she had set out and squeezed Martha's hand tightly.

_Oh Doctor…I'm so sorry._ She gazed at the back of his head and drooping shoulders with a sad smile then walked up behind him to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a hug. "I know condolences aren't going to help…so I just want you to know that I'll be here if you need me, okay? Wherever or whenever you have to go to find me…I'll always be your friend," she whispered in his ear.

With a broken sob he nodded and reached up with his free hand to place it over hers. "Thank you, Sarah Jane." He swallowed the growing lump in his throat and continued. "I'm sorry that…I could never show you Gallifrey's true beauty."

Tears welled in Sarah Jane's eyes as she thought about why she was forced to leave the Doctor all those years ago…but she quickly blinked them away. "That doesn't matter anymore…at least I still get to see _you_." She stood up straight, but kept her hands on his shoulders as she looked between him and Martha. "And now that you're here and the world doesn't seem to be doomed to end immediately if we reminisce for a bit, would you like to see what I've been doing with my time?"

Martha smiled hopefully at the Doctor. "You should see some of the things she's got up there, Doctor. She's even got this time circuit that I swear looks like something from Jack's…"

"Actually, I'm quite interested," the Doctor said, brightening considerably and eager for a change of subject. "I'd especially like to know more about the boy, Luke."

Sarah Jane winced slightly. "I was wondering how long it would take before you asked, actually. Come on upstairs and I'll tell you what I know while I show you around. If we're lucky, we might even be able to say hello to K-9!"

"Now don't you go changing the subject, Sarah Jane," the Doctor warned as he and Martha got up from the table and followed her through the living room to the stairs. "I still want to know who…what do you mean _if we're lucky_?"

"Who's K-9?" Martha asked questioningly. "Sounds like a dog, but knowing the Doctor I'm not going to make any assumptions…"

"Robotic dog, actually," Sarah Jane said with a grin as she unlocked the attic door once again and ushered them inside. "He was a companion of the Doctor's until I came back to Earth, when the Doctor was kind enough to leave him with me. He's been an investigative reporter's best friend, that's for sure."

"Exactly why I left him in your care," he said as he walked into the attic room to take in Sarah Jane's eclectic collection of alien tech spread about the room. "Apparently you needed him for organizational skills as well…" he muttered.

"Hah-hah…very funny," Sarah Jane answered drolly as she reached up to unlock some large cabinet doors to reveal a solid metal safe. "K-9's been doing some work that's currently more important than keeping my attic clean, thank you very much." She then turned the dial in the safe door and it opened to reveal something quite surprising.

"Sarah Jane Smith…would you mind telling me what a black hole is doing in your attic?" The Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Even better," muttered Martha as she stepped closer to look at the swirling mass of energy seemingly contained in the safe, "Is that your dog?"

The Doctor frowned and pulled out his glasses as he stepped closer to spy the familiar trapezoidal metal frame of his old companion floating around the swirling mass. "K-9…what _are_ you doing in there?"

"Attempting to close an artificially created black hole, Master!" came the electronic reply as a probe extended from his nose and a red beam of energy shot toward the center of the mass.

"Amazing!" Martha whispered to herself. "Now that's a good dog!"

"Affirmative!" came the reply as she and the Doctor laughed.

"And before you say anything, no, I don't know how spatial access to a black hole formed in my attic," Sarah Jane said quickly. _Though I think it's a safe guess that Mr. Smith had something to do with it before his re-programming…_ "K-9 has kept it under control and he's doing a fine job sealing it up, though." She stepped up said louder, "Isn't that right, K-9?"

"Affirmative, Mistress! Complete closure of the current aperture should be obtained within the next 365 Earth days."

"Well then, we'll definitely have to come back to see you when you're done!" the Doctor replied with a grin.

"Affirmative! Affirmative! Affirmative!"

"You always were a good dog, K-9. Keep up the excellent work!" They all waved good-bye as Sarah Jane closed the safe and then the large cabinet doors.

Martha cleared a spot on the lone futon in the attic and made herself comfortable as the Doctor leaned against the windowsill and glanced out the window to make sure the TARDIS was still there and in one piece. Sarah Jane sat in a cushioned computer chair in front of a large monitor and computer console and turned around to face it.

"Mr. Smith," she said to the computer, missing the Doctor's reaction to the name.

Martha caught it, however. _It's definitely time for another alias, Doctor…that name holds too many memories for all of us._

Sarah Jane looked back at the Doctor with an embarrassed blush. "I…figured it was as good a name as any for a larger than life intelligence that answers all my questions."

The Doctor began to protest but then caught himself as he thought for a moment. "Well…you've got a point, I guess," he said with a grin.

Martha hid her snicker behind her hand as the computer booted up and replied.

"Ready for query."

"Please display all files in relation to alien race known as 'The Bane'."

The Doctor looked up curiously at the mention of the alien race and got up to stand behind Sarah Jane's chair as he looked at the pictures popping up on the monitor.. "The Bane? I had no idea that they attempted something here on Earth."

"The name sounds pretty nasty," Martha said as she joined them at the monitor. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she took in the image of the one eyed and multiple tentacled beast displayed on the monitor. "Ugh…looks nasty, too. What were they doing here on Earth?"

"Trying to take over the world with fizzy pop, actually. Ever hear of Bubbleshock?"

"No…you're kidding! I remember when those commercials were all over the telly. I was never much for pop, though…bad for the teeth. You're telling me this stuff was bad for the brain, too?"

"Incredibly bad," Sarah Jane agreed. "If it weren't for the equipment that the Doctor kindly left me when he gave me K-9, as well as Maria's help, I might never have discovered it, either."

The Doctor beamed in pride. "I always knew you didn't need me to save the world."

"Traveling with you was definitely a crash-course in Advanced Earth Saving, Doctor. All this…" she waved a hand at the computer and around the attic, "is just post-graduate studies."

Martha giggled and the Doctor looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Afraid I can't back you up on that one, Doctor…I just recently graduated, myself."

He opened his mouth as if to retort…but quickly closed it again when he realized they were both looking at him in expectation. _I think a strategic retreat is in order…or at least a strategic change of subject_. "So…what does the Bane have to do with Luke?" he asked curiously.

Sarah Jane turned back to the monitor and took a deep breath. "I found him there when I was investigating the Bane. It turned out…they created him."

"What?" Martha exclaimed in surprise. "You mean he's like a clone?"

"Of a sort. They called him 'The Archetype,' and he was formed when the Bane took genetic samples of everyone that came through their factory and put it into one boy." Sarah Jane typed at the keyboard in front of her and suddenly various scans, photos and files concerning Luke were displayed on the monitor.

"That's quite a feat for a race such as the Bane," the Doctor said as he donned his glasses and looked at the readings. "Quite ingenious, too. If you're going to do research on a race of people, why spend time on testing of multiple subjects when…"

"You can do it all with one?" Martha suggested.

"Exactly," finished Sarah Jane. "He's got all the positive and negative traits of hundreds of people, an eidetic memory and an incredible intelligence…but in the end he's still a boy." She looked up at the Doctor and pleaded for understanding. "I couldn't just leave him, Doctor."

"It's okay, Sarah Jane," he reassured her as he removed his glasses and stuck them back in his jacket pocket. "You're obviously quite capable of taking care of yourself, and I trust your judgment in this matter. Can you forgive a nosy old Time Lord for wanting to check up on his friends?"

Sarah Jane stood and crossed her arms over her chest as she considered his question…but quickly broke into a smile as she reached out to hug him. "Of course I can, you old fool…come here."

The Doctor opened his arms wide and pulled her into a big bear hug as he grinned. "That's my Sarah Jane."

"That kind of leads into the other reason why we're here, doesn't it, Doctor?" Martha asked.

"Indeed it does," he replied as Sarah Jane leaned back in his embrace to look up at him in curiosity. "Have you by any chance seen our old boy, Harry Sullivan?"


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to get writing his again... real life has to step in at times. Thankfully the muse is back, however, and I should have chapters more regularly again. Love to you all! - Syreene_

Sarah Jane's smile fell as she remembered her encounters with Harry's supposed step-brother, Will. "No, Doctor…I haven't heard from him for a few years now."

She stepped back from his embrace and wiped at her face before turning to her desk to pull out another photo album. "We used to get together once a year to talk about old times…but then he stopped showing up all of a sudden." She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for and pulled out an aged photo of a tall, curly haired man with a long scarf standing with a young Sarah Jane and a smiling man with short curly black hair, and a blue suit.

Sarah Jane smiled wistfully and handed the photo to Martha. "He's a doctor too, you know," she said with a smile.

Martha smiled at the photo of the three of them as the Doctor came up behind her to see. "Ahh…Loch Ness! That was quite a time, wasn't it? Imagine their surprise at the 1st International Energy Conference when the Loch Ness Monster came swimming up the Thames."

Martha's eye brow shot up. "The Loch Ness Monster? You've got to be kidding me! Did you guys meet Bigfoot, too?"

Sarah Jane laughed as the Doctor took on a mock look of hurt. "He's quite the nice fellow, actually…it's those Yetis that you have to look out for. The Loch Ness Monster was all thanks to a group of aliens you've met before, Martha: The Zygons."

Martha shuddered as she remembered what she thought was the Doctor at the time turning into one of those creepy sucker-covered aliens. "Ugh…thanks, Doctor…I was hoping to forget those things. Now I won't be able to look at an octopus for a month, again."

"They were quite nasty and disguised their creation as the Loch Ness Monster in order to hide it, " Sarah Jane interjected. "They ended up being the last straw for Harry, too…as he went back to being a Navy doctor again after that. At least…that's what I assumed he returned to. Considering his mysterious disappearance, you have to wonder."

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets as he sidled up to Sarah Jane. "So…did you try asking the good Brigadier?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I did…but you know him, Doctor. He closed up quicker than a Venus Flytrap when I tried asking him. Of course that means he knows something…but this time I couldn't convince him to spill it."

"Maybe it's about time I introduced you to Brigadier Alistair Stewart as well, Martha. While he always refused to travel with me full time, he could tell quite a few good stories about my past adventures." He scratched his chin in thought. "That is…if he hasn't classified them all."

"Was this back when you were working for UNIT, Doctor?" Martha asked curiously.

"Amongst other times," the Doctor admitted. "I met him when I worked for UNIT, but we've had a long history since then." He turned to Sarah Jane and smiled. "Where is the Brig these days, anyway?"

"Happily retired and living at home, actually," she replied as she moved to her computer console. "I talked to him after Christmas as he was rather livid with you, Doctor."

"Me?" The Doctor asked innocently as he placed a hand to his chest. "What did I do?"

"Something about buzzing the Queen with a spaceship? He said the blokes at UNIT wouldn't stop calling him after that because they wanted to talk to you." She giggled to herself as she continued, Apparently you've become quite the terror around here when it comes to Christmas."

Martha looked at the Doctor with growing recognition in her eyes. "Of course…I should have known! All those people on the roofs…the draining of the Thames…who else could it have been? No wonder Mom decided to start visiting our cousins every Christmas…"

"But…now…it's not my fault!" the Doctor finally spluttered. "Every time I'm just travelling along, doing what I do…"

"Getting your nose into things…" Martha suggested.

"Attracting trouble…" Sarah Jane offered.

"And things just happen!" he finished as he shrugged his shoulders and slapped his hands to his sides. "Even more reason to talk to the Brigadier, though…I can offer my apologies." He smiled to himself. "I'll bet the old man enjoyed it, though…I never thought retirement would suit a career soldier like him."

"One way to find out," Sarah Jane said. "Mr. Smith…would you please call the Brig for me?"

"Command received, Sarah Jane…issuing call now."

The Doctor shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet excitedly. He hadn't seen Brigadier Alistair-Lethbridge Stewart since…since… _Rassilon, was it that long ago_? Their friendship had lasted from his third incarnation to his seventh before he lost track of him, and he's owed those lives to his quick and decisive thinking more than once.

The Doctor was brought out of his reverie when the large monitor screen in front of Sarah Jane flashed to life and a slightly disheveled older man in his 70s sat down at his desk in a huff while he pulled off some dirty gardening gloves.

"Sarah Jane Smith, while I have been quite forgiving of your many and repeated requests for Top Secret UNIT information from me in the past, I have to issue a formal protest that you give an old man his peace after he's retired," he said gruffly as he found his glasses on the desk and settled them on his nose with a squint at the screen.

Sarah Jane smiled with affection at the Brigadier. "You and I both know that you'll always be a soldier at heart, Alistair, even if you have to do it from home these days. Besides… an old friend of ours really wanted to say hello."

"And I know how you get when I inevitably land on your roses, Brigadier," the Doctor piped in with a grin. "I thought I'd give the poor things a break, especially since it looks like you've been working on them lately," he said with a nod at the gloves on the desk.

Alistair's eyebrow shot up in curiosity as he took a longer look at the tall grinning man standing beside Sarah Jane before glancing at the as yet unknown and rather striking dark skinned girl standing to his other side. _She looks strangely familiar…_ With typical British aplomb he sat back in his chair and took off his glasses to clean them with a handkerchief. "Orchids actually, Doctor. I transplanted the roses into another section of the garden years ago… but I appreciate that at least now you finally show some concern for them." He put his glasses back on and gazed at the Doctor. "You seem to have an uncanny ability to get younger every time I see you, Doctor."

The Doctor ran a hand through his already spiky hair and smiled with chagrin. "Blessed with good genes, I guess."

_Tight ones, too_…

He quickly glanced back at Martha, who cleared her throat and looked anywhere but at him as she tried her best to cover the fact that she was appreciating his backside. He turned back to the Brigadier and cleared his throat before continuing, "But no worries, Brigadier…while the outward appearance may be getting younger, the man inside is much older and wiser than he used to be."

"The energy of youth combined with the wisdom of age? Quite the enviable combination, Doctor."

"You'll find out soon enough…" the Doctor muttered.

"Unfortunately your manners still suffer… you haven't even introduced the young lady standing so patiently behind you," said the Brigadier as he gestured behind towards Martha.

With an embarrassed smile he turned back to see Martha grinning at him with her arms crossed and a raised eyebrow like the cat who's cornered a mouse. _I'll get you for this one later…_

The Doctor swallowed before he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her gently to his side. "Forgive me, Alistair… may I introduce you to my Companion, the lovely and brilliant Doctor Martha Jones. I've lost track of all the times she's saved my life… I don't know what I'd do without her."

"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Martha said with a smile as she stepped closer to the screen. "I've read about some of your encounters with the Doctor in the past and have been quite impressed with how you handled things."

The Brigadier let out a "hrumph" as he sat back and smiled slightly. "Getting into UNIT files again, Doctor? My actions were nothing less than expected of a soldier in Her Majesty's Army, Ms. Jones… but I do appreciate the comment; I believe that if I read the same of you I would feel the same way." Martha smiled in pleasure as she stepped back to join the Doctor at his side.

"But enough of these pleasantries, Doctor. You and I both know that you don't show up for social visits, and when you and Sarah Jane are together trouble is not far behind… so let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?" He crossed his arms on the desk and leaned in towards the monitor.

"Yes, sir!" the Doctor said with a grin as he raised a finger to his temple in a salute.

"We were actually wondering if you knew anything about Harry Sullivan, Allstair," Sarah Jane said hopefully as she sat down in her computer chair. "He's been making some mysterious phone calls to everyone that seems to have had any exposure to the Doctor or Chronoton energy. I lost track of him a few years after that whole Loch Ness debacle, so we were wondering if you had any leads?"

"Hmmn…Harry Sullivan, eh? Now there's a name I haven't heard in years…" the Brigadier took off his glasses in thought as he rubbed his chin.

"If I recall my 5th incarnation correctly, you once told me that he was doing something 'hush-hush' at Porton Down?" the Doctor asked, hoping to stir the Brigadier's memory.

"Porton Down?" exclaimed Sarah Jane as she looked up at the Doctor in surprise and disappointment. "Oh if I'd only known that Harry went to work for them…I can't even imagine how many stories I might have gotten a hold of!"

"What's going on there?" asked Martha as she moved closer to Sarah Jane.

"Nothing that any of you have clearance to know about, assuredly," answered the Brigadier.

"It's like…" Sarah Jane thought for a moment on how best to describe one of the most secretive government groups in England. "I know…it's like Area 51. You've heard of that, right?"

"You mean the place in America where they study the aliens that aren't supposed to exist?" Martha asked wide-eyed. "Are they like Torchwood?" she added in a whisper.

"Nah…Porton Down is strictly military, Martha… no social outcasts and deviants working there… at least that I've met, anyway," the Doctor answered with a lopsided grin as he scratched his head.

"That is all beside the point now Doctor, and nothing you need to get involved with Sarah Jane Smith," he added with emphasis as he pointed to the investigative reporter doing her best to look innocent. "While you were gone doing who knows what back in the 1990s, Doctor, Harry Sullivan was appointed Deputy Director of MI5."

Wow…" whispered Martha as Sarah Jane sat back in her chair in shock and the Doctor's jaw dropped in surprise.

"That bastard…why didn't he tell me?" muttered Sarah Jane.

"Excuse me?" asked the Doctor as he leaned toward the screen and cupped his ear. "My old age must be getting to my hearing…did you just say what I thought you just said? Harry Sullivan is a…_spy_? He never had a devious bone in his body!"

Martha looked at the Doctor sadly. _I'm sure I'm not the first companion who's changed after meeting you, Doctor…you're like a force of nature leaving nothing the same after you pass through our lives._ Suddenly Martha could feel her cell phone vibrate against her hip and she stepped away from the Doctor to flip it open. "Mom?" she asked quietly as she held it to her ear. "I'm kind of busy…what's up?"

"Harry Sullivan is an excellent example of a British soldier, Doctor… and like the rest of us, when he is required to perform certain duties, he does it with zeal and skill," replied the Brigadier stoically. "And that is where my knowledge of his whereabouts ends." Sarah Jane raised her hand and opened her mouth to speak before the Brigadier cut her off. "No, Sarah Jane… I'm not hiding anything this time… I actually do not know where he went off to next. When I was commander of UNIT I may have been able to get information from MI5, but even then it was like pulling teeth. Now, you are fortunate that I even know that's where he went."

The Doctor raised his hand and opened his mouth to speak this time, the Brigadier sighing before continuing again, "No, Doctor…I'm not going to call in favors, either. It seems to me that if Harry Sullivan is questioning people that ever had encounters with you, he's bound to get to you eventually."

The Doctor closed his mouth with an audible "pop" and dropped his hand. "You know…you've got a point there."

"Indeed, Doctor…I've had many in my life," the Brigadier replied drolly.

The Doctor smiled and was about to reply when he realized Martha was having a conversation of her own behind him.

"Slow down, Mom… _what_ people were asking about the Doctor?"


	8. Chapter 8

The Doctor turned to look at Martha in concern as she met his eyes and continued worriedly, "Someone claiming to be from the government is asking questions about me and the Doctor. No Mum, I understand… after the last time I'd be nervous too. I don't think this is like that though, Mum…we're dealing with it…" she turned away from the Doctor and ran a hand through her hair. "I promise we'll get this sorted out right away… do you want me to come over?"

The Doctor looked back to the Brigadier waiting patiently at his desk. "I'm sorry, Alistair… it looks like things are happening on this end and we'll have to cut the visit short." He grinned widely as he continued, "It was excellent getting to see you again, though."

The Brigadier actually smiled as he replied, "It was good to see you too, Doctor… especially without a world-wide disaster to accompany it. Stay out of trouble, Sarah Jane… or at the very least, make sure this old man doesn't have to hear about it."

Sarah Jane smiled and laughed. "I'll do my best, Alistair. My love to the wife and those much maligned roses."

"My best wishes to your new companion Ms. Jones, too, Doctor… but here's hoping she won't need them. Take care…" he reached for a button on the console and the screen faded to black as Sarah Jane sat back in thought.

Her thoughts on Harry and his secretive new job were soon disrupted by her own cell phone ringing, however. She quickly reached into her pocket for her phone and flipped it open to read the name of the caller. "Unlisted?" she muttered to herself as she pressed the talk button. "Hello?"

"Sarah Jane? It's me…Harry," came the reply. "Before you get angry for being gone for so long, old thing, I need to…"

"Oh don't you dare, Harold Sullivan," Sarah Jane admonished as she got out of her chair in irritation. "Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you're causing?"

The Doctor's eyes widened at hearing Harry's name and he quickly stepped over to Sarah Jane, motioning impatiently for her to hand him the phone. "Come on, come on, come on…"

Sarah Jane glared at him before pressing the speaker button on her phone and gesturing for him to go ahead and talk as she set it on her desk with an exasperated sigh.

"Harry Sullivan," the Doctor nearly shouted, "do I need to declare your imbecilic status to the Universe once again? This interference with my friends has to stop!"

"Doctor?" The voice squeaked in surprise. "Is that really you?"

"More or less, Harry… unless you've had more than one person calling you an 'imbecile' in your life. What gives you the right to bother my companions like this?"

"What do you mean they think we're hiding something?" Martha asked her mother in frustration as she planted a hand on her hip and looked to the ceiling.. "Why can't people just be satisfied with the fact that the world is saved, for once?"

"That's just it, Doctor… nobody knows what really happened… but some of us are starting to remember and it's causing a lot of questions."

"Oh believe me, Harry, you don't want to remember what happened," the Doctor said passionately as he gripped the phone. "I did you all a favor. Just leave it alone so you humans can get on with your lives…please." Don't make me go through this all again…

"But how could they know what happened, Mum? Yeah, I know… you don't know either. Look, we're trying to figure this out, and then we'll come see you, okay? If anything else happens, you call me." Martha snapped her phone shut and turned to listen in on the Doctor and Sarah Jane.

"I'd love to, Doctor… especially considering some of the dreams I've had… but it's not that easy."

"Be-ca-a-a-u-s-s-e?"

They could hear Harry audibly sigh before he answered, "Your Companions aren't the only ones who are remembering, Doctor… and one of them isn't taking it too well."

"What? Who?" asked the Doctor.

"Look… Sarah Jane… is there a more secure line we could discuss this on? This is all rather sensitive information…"

"Instead of doing this over the phone, Harry… how about you meet us where you were supposed to meet me for the last few years, eh?" Sarah Jane looked to the Doctor and he nodded in approval. "From there we'll be able to go somewhere totally secure."

"All right, Sarah Jane… I'll see you there. I'm sorry things turned out like this…"

"We all are, Harry," she replied with a sigh. "I'm sure it's not how any of us planned to have our reunion. We'll see you."

The Doctor started pacing the room as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "It doesn't make sense…when I caused the time reversal it should've left nothing for anyone to remember!"

"But those of us at the eye of it _do_ remember, Doctor," Martha said emphatically as she walked over to him. "You're the one always telling me how wibbly-wobbly time is… and now you're telling me that there's absolutely no way this could happen?" She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at him doubtfully. "I have to admit, that doesn't sound like you."

He stopped his pacing and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly before opening them and grinning. "You're absolutely right, Martha. No sense pulling hairs over the impossibility of something when it's staring you right in the face, eh?"

"Right," she replied with a relieved grin. As if she couldn't resist, she added cheekily, "You always did have a problem seeing what was right in front of your face."

The Doctor winced and comically grabbed at his chest with one hand as he wrapped his other arm around Martha's shoulders. "Thankfully with your astute diagnosis and capable care, Doctor Jones, I hope to cure that problem," he said with a wink and a smile.

Martha smiled wryly at the Doctor before turning to a rather amused Sarah Jane. "So where are we headed?"

"Hope you're feeling hungry," Sarah Jane said as she grabbed her keys and they headed downstairs. "Harry and I used to meet for dinner at The Black Friar every year after my travels with the Doctor… at least we did until he stopped showing up all of a sudden and caused me to worry all this time."

As they walked out the back of the house and Sarah Jane headed for her car, she heard a sound of admonishment coming from the Doctor.

"Tsk-tsk, Sarah Jane…as you said, we're about to have our reunion! Wouldn't be fair to leave her out of the festivities, would it?"

She turned around and saw the Doctor nodding hopefully towards the blue telephone box that had been waiting so patiently in her backyard. She gnawed her bottom lip in doubt as she thought about it. _It's just one quick trip, Sarah Jane…it's not like you're going off with him again like you did before…_

"Come on…" the Doctor drawled. "I'm not going to say it'll be like old times again, Sarah Jane…but we would like to have you aboard again if even just for a little."

_That was just what I needed to hear, Doctor_…she dropped her keys into her bag with a smile and wrapped her arm around the Doctor's other side as they all walked toward the TARDIS together.

The Doctor walked up the ramp to the TARDIS console with a huge grin on his face as he began to turn various dials on the console to prepare them for the trip. He pressed a button that made a microphone shoot up out of the console with a whistle not-unlike those heard aboard naval ships. "Now hear this, now hear this…all current young guests of the TARDIS have 5 minutes to depart before take-off…"

Sarah Jane and Martha followed the Doctor up the ramp but quickly had to step aside as Maria and Luke came barreling down it laughing and waving to everyone as they left. "Thanks again, Doctor! Bye, Martha! Bye, Sarah Jane! Don't be gone for too long!"

Sarah Jane smiled with a hand to her chest as she watched the kids run out into the yard. "Ah, to be young again, eh, Doctor?"

She missed the sad look that crossed his face before it quickly turned into a grin. "Nah…if you thought puberty was bad for you humans, you should've seen it for Time Lords."

"Acne and squeaky voices?" She asked as the doors closed and she walked up to join him at the console. Martha took a seat in the Captain's chair by the Doctor as she watched what had become obvious to her as the Doctor's silly way of covering up painful memories.

"I would've gladly settled for a squeaky voice if it meant that my hair would stop changing colors," he said with a laugh as he ran his hand through his spiky hair. They all giggled and with a manic grin the Doctor began pulling levers to begin their trip to Black Friar's and their meeting with the long absent Harry Sullivan.

"This place is beautiful," Martha said in awe as they walked through the large wooden doors of the pub and she gazed at the marble walls, wooden carvings and bas-relief bronzes of singing friars. "I'm almost afraid to touch anything!"

"Pretty much why we picked the place," Sarah Jane said as she led them through the pub to an empty booth in the back. "That and the location next to the rails, anyway." She set her bag down and looked over Martha's shoulder curiously. "Where's the Doctor?"

"Hmmn? Where'd he get to now…" Martha turned around to scan the pub and was quickly able to spot his tell-tale blue suit and spiky hair over the crowd.

"Ohh….Steak & Kidney Pie, Martha! Would you believe after all the times I've been in England I've never had Steak & Kidney Pie?" he exclaimed in wonderment as he read the menu on the wall.

"I'm sure we can order some while sitting at our table, Doctor…" Martha assured him as she took his arm and gently led him back to their booth.

"Oh very well, Martha," the Doctor said with an exaggerated sigh, "But you've got to try it with me," he finished with a nudge to her side and a wink as they made it back to their table.

"Did you ever realize that most of the time when we got in trouble wandering off it was because you did it first and we were trying to find you?" Sarah Jane asked the Doctor with a raised eyebrow as they joined her in the booth.

"Well that's different, isn't it?" The Doctor said nonchalantly as he opened up the menu at the table and scanned it eagerly. When he finally realized that they'd stopped talking, he looked up too see Sarah Jane and Martha both staring at him in disbelief. "What? If I get hurt or killed, generally I'll come back…but not with you… so I tell you all to stay so you won't get hurt. Of course you never listen to me," he finished with a mutter.

"Just because you regenerate doesn't mean _we_ don't care if _you_ get hurt, you old fool!" Sarah Jane said with a laugh and a roll of her eyes at the Doctor. "He never got it, did he?" Sarah Jane asked Martha.

"Afraid not…he's self-deprecating to the very end," Martha said with a comical sigh.

"Oi! Still right here…" he retorted distractedly as he caught the tell-tale blue coat and slightly greyer dark hair of a man walking through the door of the pub out of the corner of his eye. "And it looks like Harry is too…"


End file.
